


Rogue's Issues

by Andy_Spn_Fan



Series: Rogue Quill Obfonteri Udonta's Life [3]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:28:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 61,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29171895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andy_Spn_Fan/pseuds/Andy_Spn_Fan
Summary: I also wish to add that I do not claim any songs in this work as my own and credit all of the artists for their own songs.
Series: Rogue Quill Obfonteri Udonta's Life [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091867





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I also wish to add that I do not claim any songs in this work as my own and credit all of the artists for their own songs.

The Kree, who happens to be my new owner, Tressit, comes in daily and beats me with his whip to make me a better battle slave. My arrow is always out of range and, even if it were in range, I have a gag in my mouth more often than I don't. Tressit makes sure I'm healthy and the slave doctor fixes me up whenever he goes too far with the whip. He always avoids my implant and tattoos, which I find weird but whatever. I get fed twice daily and use that to keep track of how long I've been there, two meals marking one solar cycle. Tressit is always the one to take the gag out and the one to put it back in.

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Tressit comes in after a lunar cycle of meals twice a solar cycle and presses the button on the wall before I'm on the floor, face down. He comes over and takes the gag out. "Your arrow isn't close enough for you to be able to control it. I've made sure of that. You should be knowledgeable about the fact that you shouldn't speak by now. One can hope, I suppose." He starts to beat me with the whip and I close my eyes tightly, hands in fists. "Screaming, however, is something that one can't control. And I am well aware of that."

He finishes beating me and gives me my meal as he deactivates the magnet. I take it and eat it quickly, knowing better than to waste time when it comes to eating or he'll take it away. He pats my head and I tense for a moment before I just continue to eat, not wanting to be beaten anymore today. "I'm glad to see that you're learning. You will start fighting as soon as possible." I finish eating and he leaves the gag out, leaving a canteen of water as he walks out of the cell. "Enjoy your water. It will be refilled when it's empty." The door shuts behind him and I grab the canteen, drinking from it.

He stops by now and then to refill it and I retreat to the other end of the cell before he activates the magnet to pin me to the floor.

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About a lunar cycle later, Tressit comes into the cell and I move to be face down on the floor before I realize what I'm doing. He grins and looks at me. "Get up. You have your first fight." I obey and he grabs the chain on my collar, leading me out of the cell. "They took too long getting you your first fight. You're bound to be weak so they started you off with someone just as weak if not weaker."

We get to the ring and he unhooks the chain from the collar. "Fight, kill, win, 22-3-16. Fight, kill, win," He tells me and undoes the cuffs on my wrists and ankles before pushing me into the ring.

There was an old Centaurian with their fin cut off and they remind me of someone... _No, focus._ I push the thought out of my mind and get into a fighting stance seamlessly. The Centaurian rushes for me and I punch them in the face, knocking them flat on their back. "Kill them, 22-3-16!" Tressit yells and I attack them, knowing that if I didn't do as Tressit ordered, I'd get beaten.

The Centaurian throws me off of them and attacks me. I slip into survival mode and fight them easily.

I feel my arrow for the first time in lunar cycles and Tressit nods, giving me the go-ahead to use it. I whistle sharply from where I was pinned under the Centaurian and my arrow flies through their neck. My arrow gets caught by Tressit and he puts it in a box before I can't feel it again. He snaps and I go over to him quickly, keeping my eyes downcast. He attaches the chain and cuffs again before leading me away. I follow and keep my eyes on the ground.

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One day, we land planetside and Master leads me to a ring on a planet that's freezing and has snow on it while it's still snowing. He goes through the same routine that he's made when getting me ready for a fight and looks at me. "22-3-16, this is not an ordinary fight. This is a fight where you don't stop fighting until you're dead or get defeated. If you're defeated, you will have extended your use to me and will be killed." He pushes me into the ring after saying that and holds my arrow in his hand since he decided to stop using the box to block my connection to it because he made sure to teach me to only use it as a finishing move on my opponent.

My first opponent steps into the ring and I slip into survival mode immediately as they charge at me. I fight them seamlessly and take them down with my arrow through their neck at my whistle. That had become a finishing move after my first fight and Master had decided that I would keep it as my signature finishing move. More opponents come into the ring and I fight them all.

After ten opponents, I was getting tired and they just kept getting bigger and stronger than I am. I keep fighting and opponent number sixteen gets the upper hand. I whistle and they catch the arrow, stabbing the mat by my neck before they're called off by their Master. Master comes into the ring with a blade that has always been at his side and snaps. I kneel and he presses the blade against my neck while I stare at the mat.

There's suddenly a sharp whistle and Master falls to the mat next to me. Everyone scatters and I stand, snarling softly. The whistles continue and blaster fire starts to echo around me. A hammer flies past my head and all of the Masters are on the ground while I'm surrounded, the other slaves having made a run for the ships.

A Centaurian with a metal fin steps toward me with a tall Xandarian that had a mohawk and scars above his eye and I growl wordlessly, shifting into a fighting position. They freeze with their hands up and I snarl as I turn to look at the people around me. There was an AI, a Lem, a Jovian, a Pluvian, the Guardians of the Galaxy, a bunch of Terrans, an Arcturan, one that looks Arcturan, two humanoid figures in robot costumes, a giant green guy, and most of them seemed to be Ravagers while the rest of the Terrans were in some type of costume.

A Terran in a cape comes towards me and I growl louder, knowing I won't be able to take another fight because I can feel every single injury that's on my body currently. He stops and I move a bit so that I'd be able to see all of them. I lose sight of the Jovian and his hands wrap around my waist.

I go into survival mode and attack him, grabbing his head to launch myself over his body to land behind him. I kick him in the back of his knees then his back when he falls and I whistle sharply to have my arrow go through his neck. The Centaurian with the metal fin whistles and knocks my arrow off course, sending it into the snow. The Jovian stands and moves away, keeping his eyes on me. I see Master's body on the mat and all of the other bodies of the other Master's, realizing I'd get blamed for this. Something worse than death or a beating. I start to walk backward and whistle to make my arrow fly in front of all of their faces before bolting into the woods around the mat.

The ground suddenly opens underneath me and I fall behind the Arcturan, the one that looks Arcturan, and the Pluvian while the Lem waves their hands to close the portal I fell through. I put some distance between us and snarl, teeth bared. One of the Terrans in a costume does something with their hands and I'm on the ground, caught in something sticky.

"Git tha' off 'a 'er!" The Centaurian barks before whistling and the sticky thing falls to the ground, freeing me. I roll away from it and look at them, chest heaving as I come out of survival mode while crouching.

"You gonna try and kill us anymore?" The Terran that did the thing with their hands asks and I don't respond, not sure how they'd react and not wanting to find out.

"Ya can talk, kid... We ain't gonna hurt ya..." The Xandarian with the mohawk says and I look around at them again before shaking my head slightly.

"Cool..." The Terrans in costumes take their masks off and the Guardians start to come over to me, stopping when I start to growl.

"Alright. We'll stay here." The tree looks at me, head tilted, and comes closer. I growl louder and it keeps coming closer.

"I am Groot," Groot says and was too close for comfort. I move back a bit more and grab handfuls of snow in case they try to come closer.

"Rogue, I don't know what they did to you, but you need to snap out of it," The Terran Guardian says and comes closer. I throw snow in his face and he trips over a log as he stumbles backward, falling into the snow. "Or not. Look. You need to be fixed up. Cuz you're bleeding a lot and probably have broken bones judging from the size of the last few guys you fought and how hard they hit you."

"Krugarr, we can't risk losing her again. Open a portal to the cabin so the Docs can look her over." The Lem, Krugarr, nods and a portal opens under me before I'm falling onto a bunk. Another portal opens near the door to the quarters and I get off of the bunk, putting it between the people who step through the portal. The Centaurian, Xandarian, and two species with the medical symbol on their arms look at me and the bigger one looks at the other three as the portal closes.

"I thought Cap'n was dead..."

"She ain't. Fix 'er up, Docs." They come toward me and I growl but they just inject me with something. My head swims and I stumble backward, growling again when they come closer.

"You're alright, Rogue. Just go to sleep," The smaller one says and I fall to the floor against a wall before passing out. The big one picks me up to lay me on the bunk before they fix me up and the Centaurian and Xandarian stay.

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I come to in a lot of pain and sit up, gritting my teeth against the pain as I notice the collar is gone. I look around and tense as I see that I'm not in my cell, standing up to get off of the bunk I was sitting on. _Where am I?_ I look around and the door opens with Krugarr, the Centaurian, Xandarian, Pluvian, and the one that looks like an Arcturan standing there.

_"Hello, Rogue. It is good to see you again."_ I look at the Lem and could barely feel my arrow in my implant but whistle softly to get it closer. _"We are not going to hurt you. We just want to know what has happened to you for the past annual cycles."_ I stop whistling and he seemed happy about that. _"Would you mind telling us about it?"_

I keep the bunk between us and they stay near the door. My mouth was dry and the Centaurian seems to be able to tell. "They still ain't known fer givin' ya water 'fore a fight?" He sets a canteen on the bed and I shrug one shoulder. "Drink tha'. Yer gonna feel betta when ya do." I grab the canteen and down half of it while they watch me. "Today yer first fight?" I shake my head and close the canteen, looking around the quarters a bit. "Today yer first 'till ya drop fight?" I nod and he looks me over. "Tha' arrow in the neck. Tha' yer idea or tha' Kree's idea?"

"M- Tressit's idea..." My voice was rough and I cough a bit, drinking from the canteen a bit more. I look at them and the memories from before the Kree come back from where they had gotten buried because I was told they were dead. "They kept my Yaka arrow in a box that wouldn't let me feel it... Even if I could feel it at the beginning, it wasn't gonna be any help since the asshat always kept a gag in my mouth when I wasn't eating the shit he gave me... Once he was sure I couldn't use it, he left the gag out..."

"When was ya able ta feel it 'gain?" Kraglin asks and I wipe some blood off of my knuckles from the fights, thinking.

"A fight against an older Centaurian who had her fin cut off... Tressit had taken it out of the box and allowed me to use it to finish the fight..."

"How many fights ya been in, girl?"

"Too many," I scoff and flex my hands a bit, unable to relax. "Do you guys got some leathers I could wear or something?" Stakar gives me his jacket for now and I pull it on since he's the only one in the room that matches my height for the most part and with the broadness of our shoulders.

"Ya know, kid, ya ain't built like a normal Terran woman."

"You don't say," I say drily and do the jacket up, noticing my hands shaking. "Are we on Terra?" Stakar nods and I let out a huff of breath, understanding why my hands were shaking. "Christmas party... Woo-hoo..." Yondu looks at me intensely and does something on his wrist com while I lean against the desk, crossing my arms to try to warm up a bit.

Dad comes in with a set of leathers and I watch him as he sets them on the bed. "We ransacked the ships that were left but we couldn't find any of your weapons. We'll make sure you get new ones." I nod and they all leave so I can get changed after I give Stakar back his jacket. I get changed quickly and put on the neckerchief to hide new scars on the back of my neck. I pull the socks and boots on then the gloves and look in the mirror, seeing that I'm dressed in layers which is perfect.

"At least that's back to normal... Black is a good color for a Ravager crew... Doubt that I'll get my crew back that easily... Jay's probably a better Captain than I am anyway... Or a better one than I'll be now..." I rub my face and sigh into my hands, looking at my reflection. "No... I can't think like that... If I can become Captain again, I'll still be a good one... Just more scars and issues... I can get through those and grow..." I murmur and lower my hands, blowing out a breath. I leave the quarters and head downstairs.

Everything falls silent and everyone looks at me, shocked. A little green kid with Dad's hair color toddles over to me and I crouch, looking at them. "Well, hello. And who might you be?" They just smile at me and I pick them up as I stand, smiling a bit.

"This is your younger brother, Rogue," Gamora tells me and comes over, looking at me. "How are you feeling?"

"What's his name?"

"Indri."

"Isn't that a constellation in the Prithivi System?" She nods and I look at Indri, pushing his hair out of his face. He giggles and smiles at me, making me smile a bit.

"He was born after we killed Thanos. A pregnant Zehoberei doesn't present a stomach as prominently as Terrans do," She explains when I look slightly confused and I nod. Indri pats my face and I chuckle softly, looking at my younger brother. He looked like he was about five, maybe older.

"Sister!" He smiles and I push his hair out of his face again, not noticing the Guardians watching us in shock at me being tender.

"Yeah. I'm your sister. And I can guarantee that as long as I'm alive, you'll be protected," I murmur and he smiles, hugging me around my neck. I hold him and sit with him in my lap.

"Can I have my son?" Dad comes over to take him and backs up with his hands up when I bite at him.

"No. I'm holding him. Screw you." I hold Indri closer and he cuddles happily, just an adorable little boy. "And if you don't teach him how to pilot an M-ship once he's big enough to so he can come to see me, I will personally kick your ass, Quill."

"Wouldn't dream of doing anything different, Rogue. So there will be no need to kick anyone's ass." Dad rolls his eyes and I hold my little brother close, finally able to relax.

"He developed quickly. Both in size and other development," Gamora says and I nod.

"Cool." Indri was playing with a little toy happily and I watch him as the crews go back to whatever they were doing. I look around a bit and don't see Jay or Nebula. "Hey, Tex," He looks at me and waits. "Where are Jay and Nebula?"

"I'm not sure. They don't tell us where they're going or when they'll be back. But, they should be back soon." He continues what he was doing and Indri had fallen asleep against me, holding his toy close to his chest, looking adorable.

"Rogue," Dad says and I look at him, raising an eyebrow at him as he sits on the table in front of us. "The rest of the Guardians are good with Indri but if anything happens to me or 'Mora, we want you to take care of him. Think you can do that?" I nod and he smiles, patting my knee gently before he goes to do something.

Nebula walks through the door and freezes when she sees me. Jay comes in after her and looks at her quizzically before he sees me, also freezing. The crews leave until only my family is in the room and Jay stares at me while I stand, carefully laying Indri on the couch before I look at Jay. He comes over to me slowly while looking me over and I fight the urge to launch myself at him. He stops in front of me and looks me in the eye.

"Where have you been?"

"Kree. Found out I'm good at fighting to the death. Worked out OK for me, not so much for the other guys..." I pop my knuckles slightly, not sure what to do with my hands right now, and he looks at me.

"What's with all the layers?"

"What's with the interrogation?"

"Just trying to understand what the Hell happened with you the past annual cycles and what happened the day those Nova Corpsmen arrested you."

"Alright. A Kree got in contact with them, said I was wanted by them, and they'd let them live if they surrendered me to them. They did, ignoring my common fucking sense, and they got blown to bits. The Kree boarded the ship, took my weapons, gave the Corpsman holding me the holopads, and took me back to the mothership with a gag in my mouth so I couldn't whistle them away. They used a whip on me after throwing me in a cell with cuffs on my wrists and ankles and a collar around my neck that would be attracted to the floor when Tressit pressed a button outside of the cell door."

"Rogue-" I cut Dad off with a wave of my hand and keep my eyes on Jay.

"No, he wants to know what happened, so he's going to find out."

"Alright..."

"The only way I knew the passing of a solar cycle was Tressit coming in to beat me with that damned whip or to give me something that could have classified as food if we were in the age of the dinosaurs. He kept me disconnected from my arrow and kept the gag in for a lunar cycle, putting it back in whenever I wasn't eating the shit he gave me. He must've studied up on Terran psychology because he became the nicest once he had broken me into knowing how to act and react around him to keep from getting beaten more than he already did."

"That still doesn't answer what's with all the extra layers," Jay scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Fine." I undo the jacket and take it off, tossing it on the couch.

"What are you doing?" He furrows his eyebrows at me and I toss the neckerchief on top of my jacket, scars on the back of my neck showing.

"Actions speak louder than words, right?" I pull off the long sleeve shirt and that leaves me in a tank top and my pants. "This is what's with all the extra layers." I turn in a circle and look at him once it's done. "Those and the fact that it's fucking freezing outside, which is where I had a... What'd you call it?" I look at Yondu as I pull the shirt back on and he looks at me.

"A 'till ya drop fight, girl."

"That. Against too damn many people that were getting bigger and stronger than me at the end. And his response to me losing, after nearly getting stabbed in the throat with my arrow, was to try to cut my damned head off! So, I'm sorry if I'm a little fucking touchy after a few annual cycles of being a damned slave with the Kree and breaking down easily!" I growl and he looks at me as I put the layers back on.

He takes off a chain and hands it to me. "What's that supposed to be?"

"Look at it and you'll figure it out." I look at it again and see my ring on it. "You left it in your quarters on the bar. I've been holding onto it with the hope that you were still alive. Nova Prime told us that you were-"

"Blown up in an escape pod during an escape attempt? Yeah, I'm aware. The Nova Corpsmen didn't try to hide lying to her from me. Guess they didn't think I'd survive the Kree." I shrug and pull my jacket on, noticing my flame with the knife and arrow crossed in the middle sewed onto the left breast while the traditional Ravager Flames are sewed on the right breast, over the heart.

"You're back so you should have this back." He holds my ring out to me and I take it, holding it in my palm. "I'm glad you're back..." He smiles gently at me and I tuck the ring into an inside pocket for now. "Because, I prefer being the First Mate to you, Captain. As long as Stakar can give the go-ahead..." He rolls his eyes slightly and I look at Stakar.

"Welcome back, Captain," Is all he says and I bow my head slightly.

"Thank you, Stakar." He nods and the other crews come back in before we can continue the sort of conversation.

"Is the other Udonta back as a Captain or do we still have to put up with Fletch as a Captain?" One of the other Captains who I don't recognize asks and Jay rolls his eyes.

"Barkley's replacement," He explains and I nod slightly. "Yes, she's back as Captain and I'm back where I believe I belong. At her side as her First Mate." He smiles at me and I quirk the corner of my mouth up slightly in response. "I've always got your back, Rogue, especially now," He whispers and I barely nod.

"We're happy to have you back, Captain," Nebula smiles and I nod slightly.

"Well... It's good to be back," I smirk slightly and look at my crew, Jay by my side. "And it's gonna be even better when we get back to stealing shit." My crew cheers and Jay smiles.

"Hey! Food's out!" Someone yells from the kitchen and I look around a bit, noticing that I don't see Pops anywhere as I furrow my eyebrows slightly. Dad sees and comes over.

"Pops is in a hospital that's nearby... He... He isn't doing too good..." He tells me softly and I notice he looked really upset. "Do you, uh... Do you wanna go see him?" He swallows and I look at him closely as he clears his throat.

"Indri should come to."

"His green skin kinda stands out, Rogue," He scoffs and I roll my eyes a bit.

"He's a kid and people buy it when you say they loved their Halloween costume so much they didn't want to change out of it. That, and there's such a thing as coats and scarfs to hide it."

"Who would he have been for Halloween that's green?"

"Kermit. Or Hulk. They can figure it out."

"Why do you want him to come with, Rogue?"

"Just... Trust my judgment on this, alright?" He looks at me and nods.

"Alright." Indri sits up, rubbing at his eyes, and looks at us.

"Daddy..." Dad goes over to him and picks him up, holding him on his hip.

"Hey, buddy. You have a good nap?" He nods and I smile at them a bit. "You wanna go see Papa Quill?" He nods again, more awake now, and Dad chuckles. "Then let's get your winter gear on, huh?" He goes over to do that and a Nova Corps recruit hands me a scarf and winter coat with a hood.

"To hide your face and implant, Captain." I nod and pull the coat on over my leathers, putting the hood up. It hides the implant well and he smiles before leaving.

"Not bad," Dad says as he comes back over and I look at him, raising an eyebrow. "Hides your implant. You ready?" I nod and he tosses me the keys to the truck in the garage. "You're driving."

"Oh, fun."

"Yeah. Don't kill us."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime," He smirks at me and I roll my eyes as I head to the garage. He puts Indri in the back seat and I get in, starting it. "How confident are you in your driving abilities?" He asks as he and Gamora get in, Gamora in front with me while Dad's in the back with Indri.

"More than you are in yours, I'd have to guess." He scoffs and I smirk while I wait for the truck to heat up. "You like music, Indri?" He nods and I chuckle, turning up the radio. "How's this one?" He nods and Dad looks less than interested. "Looks like I've got a fellow metalhead in the family. Took long enough." I turn around to give Indri a high five and he gives it to me happily, smiling mischievously. I turn back around and open the garage door, shifting the car into the moving position before driving while Dad directs me to the hospital.

When we get there, I put the scarf on and Dad gets Indri out, bundling him up while Gamora does the same. We go inside and Dad leads us to Pops room. He sees us and smiles a bit. "Hey, Pete, Indri, Gamora. Who'd you guys bring with you?" I close the curtain and take my scarf off, smiling at him.

"Hey, Papa Quill... I'm not dead..." He smiles at me and motions me over. I go over and he grabs my hand.

"I didn't think you were. It's good to see you, Rogue." I smile at him and squeeze his hand gently.

"Good to see you too... How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," He chuckles and starts coughing. Dad gets him some water and helps him drink it when he stops coughing. "Thanks, Pete..."

"No problem, Pops. The Docs said that you were getting better last time I came by."

"I am. It's just a little rough on my old body, the road to recovery." He smiles at us and Indri smiles brightly at him. "How are my great-grandkids doing?"

"Indri's doing good," Dad tells him and they all look at me.

"I'm doing better than I was earlier today. At least you guys are still alive. Looks like everybody surrounding us lied about how the other was doing." Dad scoffs a bit and I smile at Pops a bit. "I'm glad to hear that you're doing better, even if it's rough on you." He smiles at me and pats my hand.

"Can you guys give me and Rogue a minute to talk?" Dad nods and the three of them leave, making sure Gamora and Indri are bundled up so their skin isn't shown. I carefully sit on the edge of the bed and look at Pops.

"What's up, Papa Quill?"

"I just wanted to say that even though I didn't know you for very long, I'm grateful that we did meet... I love you, Rogue..." He smiles at me with tears in his eyes and I smile back a bit.

"I love you too, Papa Quill... I'm glad we met... It was nice to learn more about Dad and his mom..." He smiles and I lean down to hug him. He kisses my cheek and pats my back gently before I let him go. We talk for a bit and he coughs.

"Want me to bring them back in?" He nods and I do that after standing up, going over to the door. "Guys," I call softly and they come back in, going over to him. He hugs each of them and whispers things in their ears.

Indri hugs him and he hugs him back, kissing his head gently. "Papa Quill loves you, little buddy." Indri hugs him more and Pops holds him for a few moments before he lets him go, looking at the time. "Nurses are gonna make their rounds and kick you guys out in a few minutes... You guys should head out..."

"Alright, Pops. Say bye, Indri." Indri waves bye as Dad picks him up and bundles him back up while Gamora bundles herself up. I pull my scarf back up and we leave after we all say bye to Pops. Dad makes sure Indri gets buckled up and we all get in before I drive back to the cabin.


	2. Chapter 2

I pull into the garage and we go inside. The Avengers were waiting and look at us. Tony stands and comes over to Dad as he helps Indri out of his winter gear. "Quill, we need to talk." Dad looks at him and Gamora takes Indri once she's out of the winter gear she was wearing.

"I will watch Indri. Go see what he needs to speak with you about, Peter." He nods and goes with Tony to the kitchen to talk. I take the winter gear off and hang it up with their stuff too, just having a feeling that Pops died. Gamora sets Indri down and he runs over to me. He pulls on my jacket and leads me over to a bunch of toys.

"You want me to play with you?" He nods and plops down next to them, tugging on my jacket again. "OK..." I sit next to him and he hands me some blocks after looking at all of his toys. "OK... Thanks..." He smiles at me and I smile back a bit. He plays with the blocks, building stuff, and I help him, placing the blocks he gave me where he points.

"You are a very good builder. It looks amazing." I give him a thumbs-up and he giggles, making me smile a bit. He does some other stuff with the toys and I watch him with a small smile.

Dad comes in and goes over to Gamora, taking her into the garage which I notice. I stand and Indri tugs on my jacket. "I'll be right back, you keep playing, alright?" He nods and goes back to playing while I go over to Dad and Gamora.

"Pops died... They called Tony because that's the number I gave for emergencies with Pops... And they said he died three minutes after we left..." I hear him say and he sees me come in. "Pops died..." He says softly, his voice breaking, and I go over to him. "We could've been there with him... But we left and he died..." I wrap him in my arms for a hug and he hugs me back as he cries. "He was all I had left of Mom... And now he's gone..."

"No, he isn't, Dad... He's still here... He might have died, but he lives on in our minds and our hearts..." He sniffles and I hug him a bit tighter. "It's gonna be OK... And it's going to get better... I promise..." He doesn't respond and I just hug him until he calms down.

He shoves me away and rubs at his face quickly. "Where the Hell did you get that sappy crap from?"

"The last half was from you. The other half was from either Keiko or some sappy movie." He scoffs with an eye roll and I smile at him a bit. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Maybe don't mention this to Rocket or Drax?"

"Oh, definitely not telling them ever." He nods and sighs softly. "At least Indri should understand because he looks old enough to." He nods his agreement and finishes wiping the tears from his face. Gamora hugs him and he hugs her back. "I'll leave you two be." I wipe my jacket off with a towel in the garage before leaving and sit next to Indri again, seeing that he was building a tall tower of blocks. "Need some help?" He nods and I help him out with building the tall tower.

It starts to fall over and I move him so he doesn't get hit by any blocks as they topple to the floor. He smiles and cleans them up as Dad and Gamora come back in. He tugs on my arm and points to the door. "You wanna play outside now?" He nods and I look at him like he's crazy. "Kid, it's freezing and dark outside. That's a bad idea." He pouts a bit and points to the door again. "Nope." Dad comes over and picks Indri up.

"It's time for you to go to sleep, anyway. Come on, kiddo." He carries him upstairs and Gamora follows. I stand and go to get some food from the kitchen. Yondu's sitting at the table with Kraglin, Stakar, Aleta, and Martinex while Jay was leaning against the wall and Rocket's sitting on the counter, Groot leaning against the counter, Drax standing to the right of Groot, and Mantis standing to the left of Groot. Yondu kicks a chair out and nods at it.

"'Ave a seat, girl."

"OK..." I sit and lean back in it a bit, ignoring the slight pain.

"Hungry?" Rocket asks and I look at him suspiciously before nodding since Tressit didn't feed me before the fights either. Stakar slides a tray of food across the table to me and I stop it in front of me. Someone's arm goes toward it and I growl loudly, not thinking.

"Just giving you something to eat it with, Rogue," Jay says and sets down a fork before moving his arm. I relax slightly and pick the fork up, eating at the same pace I would with the Kree. Dad and Gamora come in and were surprised, not sure what to say about it.

"Yer gonna choke, kid," Kraglin says as he grabs my arm to stop me and I jerk it away. "M'bad, kid. Relax. Ain't nobody gonna take yer food," He says carefully and watches as I set the fork down, swallowing what food I had in my mouth.

"What was that about? You've never scarfed your food down that fast." Dad looks at me and I grab the glass on the tray before he takes it out of my hand. "You'll get your booze when you explain what the Hell that was about."

"Tressit wasn't a patient person. If I didn't eat within three minutes of having food put in front of me, I didn't eat until he decided I needed to. Which would usually be after he came in to beat me three times, so about three solar cycles. Sometimes more. So, I'm sorry if it takes me a while to adjust to not being with the Kree anymore because they fucked me up in just a few annual cycles, according to you guys. If we're being honest, it might've been faster than that."

"How soon do you think he fucked you up then?" Rocket asks and I shrug, taking my glass of booze from Dad before I take a drink.

"A lunar cycle..." Everyone is silent and I down my glass before finishing my food at a slower pace. Dad refills my glass and pours some for everyone else.

"You're too stubborn to be able to be fucked up in just a lunar cycle. What the Hell did they do to you?" Martinex asks when I'm done eating and I lean back in the chair with my glass in my hand, thinking.

"Destroyed the ship the Nova Corps were using to transport me, gagged me to keep me from being able to use my arrow, forced me into a two-piece raggedy outfit, destroyed everything but my weapons, kept me cuffed and collared constantly, used the magnetic equipment to arrange me how they wanted daily, used a whip that could go down to the bone on me daily, kept my arrow out of range so that I thought it was destroyed, and told me that all of you were dead. That anyone who would come for me, without a doubt, was dead. That was the thing that finished the job of fucking me up. Because what's the point of fighting to be saved if no one's there to save you?" I take a drink from my glass and they do too, not sure what to say.

"How did you know you were unable to save yourself?" Drax asks and I look at him.

"There were more Kree than I would be able to take down. Even while I'm in survival mode. I tried. Six times. I started by taking down five and each time I tried again, it would go down."

"Why would it go down?"

"I got weaker, they got smarter, they got faster, I got predictable? I have no clue. You choose whichever option you like best, Drax. I tried to save myself and failed each time. Pandora's box got opened and hope was released only to be shoved back inside before the box was destroyed." I finish my drink and they were looking at me, confused.

"It's part of Greek Mythology. A woman is created by one of the Gods to be given to humans as punishment for a Titan stealing fire from the Gods to give to the humans. She is married to another Titan, the brother of the one who stole the fire, and he took her as his wife because she was made as beautiful as the Goddesses, with the gift of speech to tell lies, an insatiable curiosity, and the mind and nature of a treacherous dog. She is given a box as a wedding gift by the Gods with specific instructions not to open the box. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the box. All of the bad things in the world are released. Gossip, deceit, greed, envy, hatred, pain, disease, hunger, poverty, war, and death, which are all depicted as some type of monster. She closes the box before anything else can get out and only one thing is left inside. She opens it and a small butterfly flies out of the box, telling her that it's hope."

"That's, um... That's a nice story..." Dad says awkwardly and I shrug.

"Greek mythology is also notorious for the King and Queen of the Gods being married and siblings. And their father eating them, the King being the only one that escaped because their mother tricked him into eating rocks instead of the King as an infant." Dad stares at me and I shrug. "Mythology is fucked up, dude. So's my life. So... Yeah. You wanna pass me the bottle?" He does and I pour myself another glass, topping off anyone who wants it. "So... How close is it to Christmas?"

"Tomorrow..." Dad drinks from his glass and everyone's silent for a moment out of respect to Pops.

"This is gonna sound bad, but he was in pain so he kinda got a good gift... He's able to see your Mom and Grandmother again," I explain quickly when he looks pissed and he nods a bit, seeing the logic in that.

"OK... Fair point..." I nod and he raises his glass slightly. "To Pops," He toasts quietly and we raise our glasses too before finishing our drinks. "Rogue, you should get some sleep," He tells me and I look at him as I set my glass down, standing.

"That's a good idea. However, I'm not gonna be able to sleep right now."

"What are you gonna do, then?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out myself. For right now, I'm going outside." I do just that and go down the porch steps, leaning against the railing. I whistle and my arrow comes soaring over to me before I catch it. I spin it between my fingers a bit and look at it, thinking.

I hear music playing after about ten minutes and go inside, going to the living room to see the leads of my crew in there with the Avengers and the rest of my family, Indri too. Jay was finishing a drink and grins at me when he sees me. "Hey, Cap'n!"

"Jay. Having fun without me?"

"Naw, jus' gittin' it started, Darlin'," He hiccups and was drunk. I look at Dad and he shrugs.

"Didn't seem too bad to let it happen since all of the other crew members have started sleeping in their quarters on the ships. They got tired of walking in on people making out or of Indri playing pranks on them," He explains and I look at Indri, nodding a bit.

"We're gonna get along well, kid. Don't try any pranks on me, I'll get you back twice as hard," I smirk and he smirks back. "Ooh, I like this kid," I chuckle and look at Jay as he 'dances' around me.

"C'mon, Cap'n. 'Ave some fun with me!" He grabs my hand and spins me, making me chuckle. "Tha's betta!" He chuckles and I roll my eyes, smiling as a favorite of his plays.

"Oh, Gods... Don't even..." I mutter to him and he grins widely at me. "And you're gonna even..." He grins wider and nods.

 _"Hey, baby, won'cha look m'way?_  
 _Ah can be yer new addiction_  
 _Hey baby, wha'cha gotta say?_  
 _All yer givin' me is fiction_  
 _'M a sorry sucker an' this happens all the time_  
 _Ah found out tha' everybody talks_  
 _Everybody talks, everybody talks,"_ He sings terribly on purpose and spins me around, making me laugh a bit. He sets me down and gives me that stupid smile that makes me feel all gooey inside and like we're the only people in the galaxy.

_"It started with a whisper  
An' tha' was when Ah kissed her  
An' then she made my lips hurt  
Ah could hear the chit chat  
Take me to yer love shack  
Mama's always gotta backtrack  
When everybody talks back,"_ He sings terribly with me kinda singing the words too and he smiles brightly at me while Indri runs over.

"You can sing?" He gapes at me and I shrug one shoulder, looking at him. "What else can you do?"

"A lot of stuff. More than our idiot father," I joke and he laughs while Dad rolls his eyes at us. Indri looks at me closely and I raise an eyebrow at him, crouching to be a bit more eye level with him. "What you looking at, kid?"

"You've got some cool tattoos."

"Well, duh. I had to get cool tattoos to match my level of awesome." Dad scoffs and I flip him off easily, making him smile.

"If you're so awesome, why'd you have to get tattoos to show it off?" He smirks at me and Dad, Rocket, Drax, and Mantis laugh while Groot was playing his game. The others kinda snort and I smirk at him.

"We're gonna get along great, kid brother."

"Yeah, but I'm cooler," He says with a shrug and I scoff. "What? I am." I was still holding my arrow and twirl it between my fingers while he watches. "That's kinda cool, I guess... Is it like Yondu's?" I nod and he looks much more interested at that. "What can you do with it?" His eyes were twinkling and I move so that I'm on one knee in front of him.

"You really wanna see?" He nods and I smirk. "You're sure?" He nods again and looked like he was getting annoyed while I smirk. "Absolutely, positively, one hundred percent sure that you wanna see?"

"Yes, you imbecile!"

"Ooh, little man has big words," I chuckle and he glares at me a bit. "Have some patience, short stack." I pat his shoulder and he crosses his arms.

"Are you gonna show me or not?" He glares at me and I whistle. My arrow flies to the ceiling and circles around us, waiting for my next whistle. It plummets down and goes for Indri's throat at my next one. I whistle sharply to stop it as I move Indri and it flies past us, plunging itself into a wall. "Cool!" He laughs and I pat his shoulder as I stand. "Can you do some other stuff?"

"Some other time, kid."

"OK." He yawns a bit and I gently push him toward Dad and Gamora. He goes over and Dad takes him upstairs to bed. The leads go in different directions to go to bed and I grab my arrow out of the wall, twirling it between my fingers slightly as I turn to lean against the wall. Jay looks at me and I motion for him to go to bed. He smiles at me and leaves to find somewhere to sleep, ending up in the basement.

Dad comes back down and glares at me as I straighten up. "What the Hell, Rogue? You just met him and you're already trying to kill him? Why didn't you stop the damned arrow?" I twirl it between my fingers still and he watches me, waiting for a response.

"How old's Indri?"

"What does that have to do with what I just asked?" He growls and I look at him.

"How old is Indri?"

"He's seven, Rogue. Why?"

"Just trying to figure out how long I was with the Kree. I stopped keeping track after, about, the second lunar cycle. Looks like I've got to practice with my arrow for a bit before I can be sure I don't try to kill someone again when I'm trying to stop it." I push off of the wall and stop twirling my arrow, holding it at my side.

"Then I guess you better practice. See you in the morning." He turns and leaves the room with Gamora following after looking at me for a moment. I slip my arrow in my pocket for now and lean against the wall, listening to the music that was still playing. I head into the kitchen and get a drink, leaning against the counter now as the music gets turned off.

Tony walks in and grabs a beer, offering it to me after he opens it. I take it and he grabs a second one, opening it too. He clinks his bottle against mine and takes a swig before I do the same, licking my lips with a slight grimace after I've swallowed it. "What? Can't hold Earth booze?" He scoffs and I roll my eyes, not responding. "It's a fair question. Seeing as how you're used to the space kind." He shrugs one shoulder and takes a drink of his beer.

A blonde woman comes in and had a little girl next to her. Tony smiles and sets his beer down, hugging the little girl while I watch, curious about this. "Hey, 3000, when'd you get here?"

"Mom flew us here!" He stands and hugs the blonde woman. I sit on the counter and continue to drink my beer while watching them.

"You flew here?"

"Madame Secretary wouldn't accept any other kind of transportation," She says with an eye roll and kisses him. "Morgan, come on. It's time for you to be in bed."

"OK, Mom. Night, Dad."

"Night, kiddo. See you in a few minutes, Pepper." She smiles and gently touches Morgan's shoulder. Morgan was looking at me while I was about to take a drink and I lower my bottle from my lips, looking at her.

"What's that thing on your head?"

"A fin."

"Are you a fish?"

"Nope."

"Why do you have a fin, then?"

"Why do you have hair?"

"Because it grows on my head. Does that fin grow on your head?"

"Nope."

"Then what does it have to do with my hair?"

"Just wanted to see if you could figure out how to ask any more questions after I asked one."

"I can always ask more questions. Wanna see?"

"Not particularly."

"Are you grumpy?"

"No."

"You seem grumpy."

"I'm not." I take a swig from my bottle and she looks at me. "Your Mom said you had to go to bed, so you better get going before I eat you."

"That doesn't scare me. Dad would beat you up before you could even grab me. Mom too."

"Well, can't argue with that logic. How about you go to bed because I'm tired of this conversation?"

"You're grumpy."

"Not grumpy. I've just had very little social interaction for a while."

"How long?"

"A specific length of time that you're not going to learn. Night, kid." I finish my beer and Pepper takes Morgan upstairs. Tony finishes his beer and looks at me as he throws our bottles away. I tilt my head to each side to pop my neck and pop my knuckles before hopping off of the counter.

"You gonna go to bed soon?" Steve asks from where he was leaning in the doorway of the kitchen and I look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"When did you people become my keepers?" I scoff and grab another beer, looking at Steve. "You want one, Cap?" He shakes his head and I close the fridge, noticing the bottle opener on the counter. I grab it and open the beer before taking a swig, tossing the lid on the counter with the opener. I notice that the rest of my family had gone to bed and that it was going on 2330, leaning against the counter again.

The other Avengers come in and look at me, Pepper included. "Ah, yes. Time to become a science experiment. While that sounds like a riveting experience, I'm gonna pass."

"What?" Bruce looks at me like I'm insane and I take a swig of my beer, holding the neck of the bottle between my index, middle, and ring fingers with my index and ring fingers on one side, my middle finger on the other. "It might be time for you to be cut off because that made no sense, kid." I finish my drink and toss the bottle in the garbage, looking at them for a short moment each before settling on Bruce.

"Well, there you go. I'm done drinking. Night, idiots," I head into the living room and notice a wrist com on the coffee table with a note saying that it was for me and was programmed the same way as my last one was, picking it up. I tap a few things and nod a bit, noticing the _Milano_ outside. I go outside and board it, the only person on it. I lock it up and lay on the bunk, falling asleep after a while.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake to sunlight streaming through the windshield and squint, covering my eyes as I sit up. I turn away from the windshield and look at my wrist com, seeing it should still be dark out since it's 0345.

There's suddenly a huge ruckus going on outside and I get off of the M-ship quickly, grabbing a large blaster that's laying near the door to get planetside as I do.

The Kree are there and there's a huge fight going on between everyone. I see Dad and Gamora are shielding the way up the stairs to where the kids are and they see me. I put the butt of the blaster on my shoulder and look through the sights, aiming at some Kree before blasting their heads off.

_"22-3-16, if you surrender now, we will leave the planet peacefully and not injure anyone else,"_ Someone from a hovering ship says over the speakers and I flip them off before I continue to blast Kree. _"Then you leave us no choice. Get the children."_ I see a window open and two Kree come out, dragging Indri and Morgan with them. I aim at them and they use the kids as shields. _"If you shoot my soldiers, the children will fall and possibly die on impact with the ground,"_ The Kree says helpfully and none of the Avengers weren't able to get to any of their weapons other than Thor with his hammer. _"What will it be, 22-3-16? Surrender or watch as we turn the defenseless children into a battle slave and a breeder?"_

I look through the sights for a moment longer and lower the blaster. Something hits me across the back of my neck and I growl loudly as shocks go through my entire body before I fall to my knees on the ground. "For the death of your Master, the deaths of other Kree slave Masters, and the escape of numerous battle slaves, you are sentenced to death." I feel a blade to my neck and see Indri and Morgan get dragged toward a ship while the others are trapped, unable to get to them right now.

Dad and Gamora jump over their obstacles and run toward them only to get blaster fire in their chest. "Mom! Dad!" Indri screams and I watch as Dad falls to the ground.

"Your turn," The blade leaves my neck and I grab snow in my hand, turning to throw it in their faces. "Ack!" I feel anger course through my veins and trees come closer, grabbing the Kree that was going to kill me. Indri and Morgan get dragged onto a ship and I open my hand at it. Trees wrap branches around it and keep it from being able to take off. I go over and see that Dad and Gamora were dead as I crouch next to them, eyes staring at nothing while their hands were interlaced. I close their eyes and stand, looking to see what was blocking the Avengers and other Ravagers way. 

_A ship, huh?_ I open my hands and tree branches wrap around it, lifting it out of the way as I go toward the ship with my brother on it. "Get that damned door off," I growl and the branches worm their way between the door crevice and the frame of the ship, prying it open before I board it.

"Rogue!" Indri yells and I see him in a circle of Kree, holding onto Morgan to keep her safe. "Help us!" I growl at the Kree and slip into a sort of survival mode, mainly pissed off.

"Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to!" They both close their eyes and the Kree attack me. I fight them and get an electric thing from them, using it on them as I break their skulls.

"Rogue?" Indri calls and I can hear the fear in his voice, fighting harder against the Kree as I get more pissed off.

"Hang on, buddy!" Someone hits me across the back with a whip and I snarl, turning as they swing it at me again. I catch it and yank them forward, throwing them into a bunch of other Kree. _That takes care of those._

"Can we open our eyes now?" Morgan asks and I go over to them, grabbing their shoulders gently.

"Just one more second," I say gently and see the Kree starting to get up as Tony, Pepper, and Steve appear in the doorway. "OK, open your eyes and run to those three, don't look back. Indri, stay with Steve. I'll be there soon." They do as I tell them and I tackle a Kree that tries to grab Morgan. "You aren't getting anyone else in my family, you fuckers!" I snarl and take the blaster from their side, blasting all of them.

Once they're all dead, I get off the ship and Indri hugs me immediately. "Mom and Dad..." He cries and I crouch to hug him properly.

"I know... I've got you, kid brother..." I hold him close and his arms wrap around my neck tightly. "It'll be OK..." He cries into my shoulder and I hold him tightly, kneeling.

Someone starts to clap and I stand, putting Indri behind me as I whirl to face them. I tense as I see a Kree Ruler, who happens to be Tressit's older brother, Stisseals, clapping as he gets off of a ship just landing and he looks at me. "I can see why my brother was so interested in you now, 22-3-16."

"Why do they keep calling you a bunch of numbers?" Indri asks softly and I keep him behind me as I back up a couple of steps, wanting to keep distance between us. Each step I take, he takes one to keep us close to each other and he stops about two feet in front of me.

"22-3-16 is one of the best battle slaves my brother ever had. Seven years and no losses. Until yesterday. Isn't that right?" I clench my jaw and the others were watching the interaction. "Where is that demeanor that the Centaurian and runaway Skrull slave taught you?" He smirks at me and I hold an electric stick against my forearm, hiding it from his view. He presses something and shocks go through my entire arm, radiating to my entire body afterward.

I grunt softly and move the stick so that I don't get shocked while he smirks, leaning over to look at Indri. "Oh? Is that why you aren't attacking?" I throw the stick at his face and he catches it only to get a kick to the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. He wipes at his face and gets impaled by tree branches before all of the other Kree do too, except for the one who killed Dad and Gamora. They get grabbed by tree branches and dragged over to me.

"You filthy, ungrateful slave! Release me this instant!" She snarls and spits in my face. I wipe it off and look at Indri.

"Indri, this person killed Dad and Gamora. What do you think should happen to them?" He looks at her and she looks at him. He smiles and she relaxes as he looks at me.

"Kill her."

"What?" She screeches and I whistle sharply, my arrow going through her throat. She won't die immediately and I undo the branches holding her so that she falls to the ground before I have branches cover her so Morgan doesn't have to watch her bleed to death.

Indri and I go over to Dad and Gamora and everyone in our family and the Avengers had gathered around them to look down at them. Indri kneels between them and I kneel next to him as he hangs his head a bit. "They died trying to save me and Morgan..."

"Yeah, they did."

"Why would they do that?" He looks at me and I look at Dad and Gamora then at him.

"Because they're your parents. And parents are supposed to protect their kids, no matter what. Even if it kills them. They were being good parents to you." He scrubs a hand across his cheeks and I pull him close with an arm around his shoulders. "It'll be alright," I whisper and he wraps his arms around my neck again.

"Now what do I do? What do _we_ do?" He sniffles and I rub his back gently, thinking.

"Now... We take it one step and one day at a time. When we leave Terra, you're gonna come with me."

"What about Drax, Rocket, Mantis, and Groot?" I look at the other Guardians and they were each looking at their fallen teammates, looking at me when they hear Indri ask the question.

"They can come if they want to."

"Why can't I stay with them? I don't even know you that well..."

"Dad wanted you to come with me if anything happened to him and Gamora. But, I don't think he knew it was going to happen so soon." He lets go of me and I offer him a rag from my pocket so he can wipe his face off. He takes it and does that while I wipe my jacket off from the blood of the Kree, his tears, and snot.

"Why you, though?"

"Kid, if I had any clue about that, I'd let you in on it. Dad had always been weird like that." He shrugs a bit and tries to give me back the rag. "You hold onto it."

"But your nose is bleeding." I put my hand to my nose and come back with an insane amount of blood, taking another rag out of my pocket. "Why do you keep rags in your pocket?"

"Huh. So it is." I press the rag to my nose to catch the blood and look at Indri. "It's easier to keep blood inside you when you have something that soaks it up and keeps it from getting on the floor or the ground." He shivers a bit and I stand, pulling him to his feet while keeping the rag pressed to my nose to catch the blood. "Let's get you inside." I lead him inside and we both sit in front of the fire next to Morgan.

"What happened to your nose?"

"No clue."

"Is it bleeding?"

"Yup."

"Oh. My Dad made hot chocolate."

"Cool. You think he'd give some to Indri?" Tony comes in and hands a mug to Indri, setting one in front of me.

"What happened to you?"

"Apparently I get nose bleeds now."

"Huh. Good luck with that."

"Yeah, thanks." Indri drinks his hot chocolate and watches me as I check to see if my nose is still bleeding, which it was. "What the Hell is happening?" I press the rag to my nose again and he leans against my side slightly.

"Is your ship nice?" He asks and I wrap an arm around his shoulders, watching the fire.

"Last time I saw it, yeah. It's nice."

"Is it big?"

"Pretty big, yeah. Most Ravager ships are."

"Cool. Like Grampa Yondu's ship?"

"Yeah, like Yondu's ship. Mines better, though. Don't tell him I said that, either," I whisper and he smiles a bit, kinda laughing. I smile and check to see if my nose was still bleeding. "Finally..." I mutter and put the rag up to figure out what to do with it later.

"How ya doin', girl?" Yondu asks as he comes in and I shrug slightly.

"Not dead yet." He rolls his eyes with a scoff and I take a sip of the hot chocolate Tony gave me.

"Tha' was somethin' else with them trees, girl." I shrug one shoulder and drink the hot chocolate, leaning against a wall. "Ya gave Twig a run fer 'is units," He smirks and I roll my eyes, finishing the hot chocolate. Indri leans against me and I keep him close to me, looking to see he fell asleep. "'Ere, Ah can take 'im ta bed," He says as he comes over and tries to grab Indri.

"No." He stops and looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "I've got him." He nods and sits on the couch across from the fireplace, keeping an eye on us. Pepper comes over and picks the sleeping Morgan up, carrying her upstairs to bed. I close my eyes as I rest my head against the wall and hold Indri close to my side, silently vowing to protect him until my last breath while almost everyone else goes to bed.

The Captains and First Mates in my family stay in the living room with the rest of the Guardians and Kraglin sits on my right, where Indri is, while Rocket sits on my left, probably thinking I was asleep. "You four idiots coming with me when we leave?" I ask and feel Rocket jump slightly as I rest my hand on his head.

"Yeah... We are..." He doesn't move my hand and I stroke his ears gently for a moment, opening my eyes. "Quill and Gamora were fucking idiots..."

"I am Groot," Groot says from where he was sitting in front of me and I notice he finally wasn't playing on his damned game.

"Yeah, yeah. They were just the first ones to get over the crap in the way," Rocket mutters and I smooth my hand over Indri's hair when he starts to stir.

"Shhh... You're OK..." I murmur and he settles back into a peaceful sleep.

"Yer good with 'im, kid." I shrug and he wraps his arm around my waist in his sleep, using it to burrow closer to my side. "An' he seems ta like ya," Kraglin chuckles and I rest my head against the wall again, trying to sort through everything that has happened in the past two solar cycles. "Ya a'ight, kid?"

"Mmm... Working on getting my brain to process everything... Which is proving to be difficult, to say the least..." I rub my temples with my left hand and drag my hand down my face after a moment. "Seven years... Nice... Moving past that... Huge fight on Terra... Come close to getting my head cut off... Didn't happen... Yay... Rescued... Yipee... Kree comes back... Tried to kill me again... Also didn't happen... Tried to take Indri and Morgan... Dad and Gamora get killed... Kree get killed in retaliation..."

"And what are you learning from this?" Rocket scoffs and I look at the ceiling.

"That these are all factors in the mental breakdown I'm currently going through. Whoo-hoo! Forgot how much fun those were! Yay!" I laugh and they look at me, worried. The laughs break off into a scoff and I rub the back of my neck. "Dad was an annoying asshole."

"Yeah, he was..." Rocket looks at his paws and looked miserable. "Super annoying..."

"And an imbecile who risked his life for his music," Drax adds and I scoff, smiling a bit.

"Not even surprised."

"And the idiot who told the Blue Idiot his location to save the Green Idiot..." I chuckle softly and gently run my hair over Indri's hair.

"And one of the first people to bitch at me whenever I'd say something about you or Yondu," Stakar adds from a chair and I smile a bit.

"I guess he was an OK Dad, then. When he wasn't being a jackass, that is." Yondu scoffs at that and I look at the time, seeing it's 0500 now. "Gotta admit... It's gonna be nice to not get woken up by Dad being loud as Hell."

"Oh, that hasn't been Quill's thing in a few years. It's been Indri's," Rocket tells me and I laugh a bit, rolling my eyes.

"Of course it has. At sunrise?" He nods and I look out a window, thinking. "Probably have two hours until then. Maybe more, maybe less." I shrug a bit and lean my head against the wall, closing my eyes to rest for now while I keep Indri close to me.

"Well, tomorrow ya git ta meet m'woman, girl."

"Can't wait, Gramps."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wake to a knock on the front door and a hand in my face, squishing it. "Rogue! Wake up! It's Christmas!"

"I'm well aware of the date, kid," I scoff as I remove his hand and Yondu lets in a woman with long brown hair Peter comes in and hugs her.

"Hey, Aunt May!" He smiles at her and she smiles back, hugging him back. I look at them as I stand and stretch, regretting sleeping the way I did already. May was looking at me and I look back at her.

"'Sup?" I lift my hand slightly in greeting and she smiles at me.

"Hi." She looks at Peter and he smiles. "Is she going to be joining us on the slopes?"

"On the what?" I look at all of them and Indri jumps a bit. "What am I missing?"

"A new tradition. We're in the mountains of Colorado, dude! We ski and snowboard!" Peter explains, smiling brightly, and I nod a bit.

"Well... Y'know, I'd love to... But, I don't have skis or a snowboard! So, guess I'll just have to stay here!" I shrug and Bucky shows off a snowboard from the side of the stairs.

"Tony had it designed for you and got it delivered last night," He explains and I give him a thumbs-up.

"Wha'? Ya scared, kid?" Kraglin smirks at me and I roll my eyes, taking the board from Bucky.

"I do not get scared. Where's the rest of the equipment?" He points to a box and I go over to it, crouching to look in it. I see all of the equipment I need and even a specific helmet for me. "Thanks, Stark."

"No problem, Katniss," He smirks and I roll my eyes slightly.

"How'd you get my sizes?"

"Took a body scan when we saw you in that fight."

"Creepy, but cool." He shrugs one shoulder and I put the stuff back in the box, for now, laying the board on top of it. Someone whistles from the kitchen and I head that way with Indri, seeing Yondu, Stakar, Aleta, and Martinex dishing food out. "You guys know how to cook?"

"No. A couple of the cooks on the crews cooked, we're helping dish it out," Martinex explains and I nod, taking the plates he gives me. "For you and Indri." I nod and Indri sits down before I give him his plate, putting mine next to it. He starts eating and I give him some juice while I get myself a mug of coffee.

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We go to the top of the mountain that Tony, Pepper, and James had deemed safe once everyone has eaten and Pepper and Aunt May makes a basket of food. Indri puts on the equipment that he hadn't put on at the cabin and I do the same, sitting on the slope next to him as I strap my feet onto the board, my helmet already on with the goggles. "Is your fin gonna be safe in that?" Indri asks and I shrug, not sure.

"Won't know until we try, right?" He nods with a smile and I pull my mask up, covering the rest of my face since I'm strapped onto my board. Bucky slows to a stop in front of us and pulls both of us up, giving me his metal hand.

"Think you can keep up?" He asks, smirk evident in his voice, and I pop my knuckles slightly, a little nervous. "You know what to do?" I shrug and he looks at me before explaining the finer points of snowboarding while I listen. Indri does too, wanting to wait for me, and the other start snowboarding and skiing.

"Alright, it's on you, now." He gives me a slight push and I start going down the slope, feeling at home right now. Indri was managing to keep up, my mirrored image, and I smile.

"Wanna see something cool?" I holler and he nods. "Watch this!" I steer toward a snowbank and put more weight on my lead foot as I bend forward slightly, gaining speed.

"Be careful, Rogue!" Someone yells and I hit the snowbank, catching air. I do a flip and land a bit past it before I drift to a stop.

"Hell yeah!" I laugh and punch a fist in the air while Indri drifts to a stop next to me. "So, what'd you think?"

"That was awesome!" He laughs and I give him a high five. "Uncle K has a portal open so we can end up back at the top!" He points at it and I nod.

"C'mon, then!" We move to be going back down the slope and drift to a stop at the top after going through Krugarr's portal.

"I thought you didn't know how to snowboard!" Bucky accuses and I lift the goggles to look at him, moving the mask down.

"I didn't say I didn't know how to. Just that I didn't have a snowboard."

"Where'd you learn to catch air like that?"

"My sister, Keiko. Every year, she'd scrape together the money to get me a new board or new equipment cuz our grandparents would destroy mine from the year before. She'd bring me up here and we'd practice for most of the winter break." I smile a bit and look at Indri, seeing him look at me. "And it makes it better that I get to do it with my kid brother, too." He smiles at me and I put my stuff back where it goes, gently shoving at his head.

"Catch me if you can, old lady!" He goes down the slope and I scoff, following him after a few moments.

"I'll show you old, you little shit!" I weave around trees and rocks, using some snowbanks and dead trees to catch air cuz it's cool.

"Are you even trying?" He laughs and I bend forward a bit, gaining more speed to catch up with him.

"'Sup, little brother?" He laughs and I reach out to tag his arm. "Caught you!" I look ahead and he does too, both of us trying to hurry to a stop while we curse loudly.

We had veered off course during the race and were heading toward a cliff. I stop and he slides into me, knocking us both to the ground. I hold him and turn my board slightly so we stop moving, stopping on the edge of the cliff. He tries to climb back up and I help him, throwing him back up toward a tree. He grabs it and pulls himself to be behind it.

"Rogue, come on!" He hisses and I roll over to crawl that way, my board slipping over before I follow. "Rogue!" I grab the edge and pant a bit, thinking as I see the cliff drop down to a frozen pond. "Tony!"

"I'm fine, Indri! Calm down!" I holler and grab the edge with my other hand, trying to find something to grab onto so I can pull myself up. I get to my elbows and see Indri trying to come over. "No! Stay right there!" He stays and I notice Thor, Tony, Steve, and Bucky coming over. Thor throws his hammer and it lands in front of me where I can grab it.

"Pull yourself up using that! I doubt that you are still worthy!"

"Thanks, Thor!" I grab the handle and try to pull myself up only to move the hammer, starting to slide off the edge. "Shit!" I throw Thor the hammer and grab onto a loose rock to stop myself from falling to my death. Bucky comes over and pulls me the rest of the way up.

"You good?" I nod and pat his shoulder slightly in thanks, going over to Indri to check him over. He hugs me as soon as he's sure I won't fall again and I let him, wrapping my arms around him a bit.

"I'm sorry! If I hadn't slid into you, this wouldn't have happened!" I pull him away and take my board off to crouch comfortably in front of him so we're eye-level.

"Hey, it's alright. We veered off course while we were screwing around. We had a clear path and didn't realize we screwed up. Mainly me, though, cuz I should've been paying attention. Look, point is, it isn't your fault, alright? We're both fine, right?" He nods and I gently pat him over, which he permits. "See? We're all good. Gramps is bound to be pissed we went off course and almost fell to our deaths..." He looks scared and I redirect the conversation.

"Almost doesn't count!" He looks at me with narrowed eyes and I grin a bit. "It doesn't!"

"Grampa Yondu isn't going to see it that way! He's gonna eat us!"

"Let me worry about Gramps. And I lived this long without getting eaten. We'll be fine." He looks at me skeptically and I pat his arms gently. "Trust me. Let me worry about Gramps, alright?"

"Alright..." I pat his shoulder and stand, grabbing my board. "How are you gonna deal with him?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it, alright?" Tony says something to someone and a portal opens before we go through it.

"Wha' the Hell is wrong with the two 'a yas? Don'cha know how ta follow a damned path?" Yondu yells at us as soon as we're through it and the others avoid us, knowing better than to get between a yelling match.

"That's on me. I should've been paying attention. That's my bad, Gramps. We're sorry."

"Damn right it is, girl! We a'ready lost yer Daddy an' his Momma! Don'cha dare make us hafta send tha' boy into the stars too, girl," He snarls and I clench my fist slightly.

"I already admitted I screwed up!"

"We almost died, why are you yelling at us?" Indri asks and Yondu glares at me.

"Ya wha'?" He bellows and I wince slightly at the volume while Indri jumps, hiding behind me.

"Almost doesn't count! We're fine!"

"He ain't lookin' fine, girl!"

"That's because you're screaming at us and scaring him! We get it! We fucked up by not paying attention! What the Hell do you want us to say? We already apologized!" I yell back and Kraglin looks surprised from where he was standing off to the side with Senso. Indri looks at me and I take a deep breath to calm down. "We're sorry and we'll pay better attention, alright?"

"Ya betta," He growls and looks at both of us before walking away, not skiing or snowboarding right now.

"That was you taking care of it?" Indri hisses at me and I shrug a bit, patting his shoulder. "Can we keep going for a bit longer?"

"Sure, kid. Let me get my board back on, alright?" He nods and waits for me while I strap my feet back onto the board, sitting next to a tree so I can use that to stand.

"Ready?" I pull my mask back up then settle my goggles back over my eyes and we drift down the slope together after I give him a thumbs up. I weave around as we go down and he does too, trying to catch some air.

He doesn't stick the landing and tumbles before he can drift to a stop while I do the same, looking at him. "You good?" He nods and I help him up. "You caught some good air, though. Just got to work on the landing." He nods and we continue down the slope, staying on the path this time.


	4. Chapter 4

I show Indri how to land and he practices it a bit by jumping off to the side of the slope. "Yeah, good job." He grins at me and I gently shove at his head, grinning behind the mask. I look around a bit and notice that we can go down further than we have been. "Alright, c'mon. We're gonna go a bit further down this time than we have been, sound good?" He nods and we continue down the slope, weaving a bit still.

"Hey! Try to catch some air using that snowbank!" He nods and does that, sticking the landing before he drifts to a stop. I drift to a stop next to him and he was radiating happiness.

"I did it!"

"Good job, kid!" I give him a fist bump and he returns it, smiling brightly.

"Come on! I wanna keep catching air!" He continues down the slope and I follow, speeding up to stay close to him. "Watch this!" He goes toward a dead tree and I get a bad feeling, following him as I notice we're reaching the treeline.

"Don't use that tree, Indri!"

"I'll be fine! I've got this!" He smiles brightly and I see something moving through the snow as I get closer, lunging at Indri's leg.

I thrust my arm out and get bit by a snake, drifting to a stop while Indri does the same. I grab the snake by the rattle on its tail and yank it off of my arm, throwing it far into the trees while I yell "Yeet, bitch!" Indri looks at my arm and I follow his gaze, seeing the snake's fangs had gotten the one patch of open skin where my sleeve had ridden up while I was thrusting my arm out. "Well, fuck. Indri, contact Krugarr and have him open a portal."

"OK." He does that and we glide through the portal, drifting to a stop at the top of the slope before I sit down.

"What happened?" May asks and I take my gloves and coat off. "What are you doing? You'll freeze!"

"Peter, get your aunt to chill out." I hadn't left my leathers on and had changed my long sleeve shirt for a T-shirt. "And get the anti-venom, for me."

"The what?" He looks at me and I blink at him, tugging the mask around my neck before moving my goggles.

"The anti-venom. For snake bites."

"There are snakes up here?" Tony asks and I pinch the bridge of my nose, counting to ten.

"There are snakes here, yes. Don't you have any anti-venom?"

"No! We never needed it because we didn't know there were snakes here!"

"Colorado has a lot of snakes. Prairie rattlesnakes chill out by the treelines of mountains and in areas below nine thousand feet because it's scared of heights. Hey, Strange," I call and he looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "You able to anti-venom for a prairie rattlesnake bite?"

"I suppose so, yes. Why?" I just motion to the bite and he nods, getting started on trying to get some. "Stay there, don't panic-"

"Don't raise my arm above my head, try to hold still, yeah, yeah. I know. You wanna just get the anti-venom?" He nods and disappears. Indri was standing off to the side a bit, watching me, and I notice. "What's up, kid?"

"Are you OK?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm good. There's a good chance that I won't die." He pales at that and I feel bad. "I'm kidding, Indri. I'll be fine. Strange just has to get me some medicine and I'll be all good. Alright?" He nods a bit and sits next to me.

"I'm sorry..." I look at him and he wasn't making eye contact with me.

"I'm gonna give you a warning now, I'm gonna be pissed off as soon as Strange gets back with that crap to fix me up before I can get fucked up. And after I'm sure you're OK. So, enjoy me not being pissed for as long as you can, because it ain't gonna be for much longer." He just nods and we sit in silence, the others looking at us.

"What's going on?" Peter asks and I glance at him.

"None of your business." Doc Strange comes through a portal with a needle and I offer him my right arm slightly, the one that I got bit in. He ties a wrap around my bicep and finds the vein.

"Your veins are very easy to find," He comments as he injects the anti-venom in and I roll my eyes. "There. You're good to go."

"Great." I unstrap my board and set it next to Peter before turning to look at Indri as I pull my coat back on. "You good? No bites or scratches?" He shakes his head as I look him over and I nod a bit. "Good... Good..." I stand and dust my pants off, pissed as Indri stands too, his board still on.

"Now... Care to explain to me... Why you didn't think to listen when I told you not to use the damned tree to catch some fucking air?" I growl and he shrugs a bit.

"I thought you were being overprotective..." He mutters and I glare at him.

"You thought I was being overprotective?" He nods a bit and I cross my arms while he kinda shifts on his board. "Take your board off and set it by mine. I don't want you taking off."

"I'm not going to take off! I'm not you!" He yells and glares at me.

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean, little man?" I growl and he tenses a bit, realizing he fucked up.

"Nothing..."

"No. What was that supposed to mean, Indri?"

"Mom and Dad told me how you'd take off when you got in trouble," He mutters and I look at him.

"Take your board off and put it by mine. Now."

"Why?"

"Because I'm older than you, your sister, your guardian, and I said so," I bark and he sits to take his board off, tossing it by mine. "And lose the attitude, kid."

"You can't just replace Mom and Dad like that! Not when you weren't even here for seven annual cycles! You shouldn't even have been able to become a Captain again!" He glares at me and I clench my fists at my sides. "What? Don't have a comeback?"

"Indri, I suggest you shut the fuck up, right now." He snaps his mouth closed with an audible click and I glare down at him. "I'm not trying to replace Dad or Gamora. I'm trying to take care of you and keep you safe like they wanted me to do if anything happened to them."

"And something did happen to them! The Kree came back for you! And you could have just gone with them! If you had, they wouldn't have grabbed me and Morgan then Mom and Dad wouldn't have had to try to save us! It's your fault they're dead!" He yells then storms off and I'm frozen, not sure how to react or respond.

Then my emotions decide for me and I go after the kid, pissed off. I grab him by the shoulder and spin him to face me, glaring harshly at him.

"You listen and you listen good, you little shit! The Kree have no sense of honor! Or any reason to stick to what they say they're going to do! They promised to let Nova Corpsmen go on with their lives then blew them up! The Kree are a bunch of lying slavers that have no regard for basic decency when it comes to the way they treat anyone! If you aren't one of them, you're fair fucking game to them! It doesn't matter how old you are! It doesn't matter how rich you are! They will beat you down until you become an empty shell that will do whatever they Hell they tell you so that you can go one solar cycle without pain across your entire fucking body!"

"Then that's your fault for being weak!" I feel rage claw up my throat and turn to punch a hole in a nearby tree instead of hitting him, making my hand bleed badly before I turn to him again. He was frozen and his eyes were wide, staring at me. I step toward him and he scrambles backward until he's behind Kraglin's legs while I smirk at him, a decent distance away from them.

"Move," I snarl and he looks at me.

"Kid, ya need ta take a walk."

"I'm fine. Now move." I notice Indri looking at someone behind him and stoop down to gather up some snow, making a snowball with a bit of difficulty. Kraglin notices and moves to the side.

"Hey!" Indri looks at Kraglin and I beam him in the face with a snowball, knocking him on his ass. "What the Hell, Rogue?" He gapes at me and I cackle.

"You should've seen your face, kid!" I grin at him and he gapes at me. "That was one of my greetings into the family. Congrats, kid, you're in." He comes over and knocks me over as he slams his body into my knees.

"You're a huge jerk!" He hits at my arm and I flip us, pinning him easily while I smirk down at him.

"Watch it, short stack. I might have to eat you." I bare my teeth at him and his eyes go comically wide again. I stand and pull him to his feet, snickering. "I'm not trying to replace anybody and the Kree would've taken you guys anyways. After killing some people and taking the rest of them as slaves. And don't call me weak again. Or else I'll show you how weak bones can be. Clear?" He nods quickly and I pat my hand against his helmet, noticing my hand was still bleeding. "Oh, right. That's a thing that happened." I flex my hand slightly and notice Tex coming over.

"Thank you for making sure I'm never bored, Cap'n," He scoffs and I roll my eyes.

"No problem, Tex. Appreciate you putting up with my bullshit."

"Good crew an' good Cap'n. Ain't even crossed my mind to leave." He fixes my hand up and Indri watches. "You gonna stick the kid in Med?"

"I'm gonna stick him in every team for a lunar cycle and, once he's been through them, he can talk to the lead of the team he worked best in."

"Do I have to go through all of the teams?"

"Yes. It'll help you learn what you need to know to be a Ravager and teach you other skills."

"Why do I need to know how to sew?"

"Being able to make tight stitches in leather will help you be able to make tight stitches in your skin. And you can fix up anything that gets fucked up on a job to keep under the radar."

"Like what?"

"If you get stabbed, they're gonna be looking for someone with bloody leathers and a hole in them. You know how to sew, you can fix your leathers to hide the hole and work around the blood situation. Luckily, blood slides right off of them." I pat Indri's head and Tex bandages my hand up.

"I'd like you to not punch any more trees, Cap. If possible?"

"I will try my absolute best, Tex. Thanks." He nods and heads off to continue whatever he was doing. I look in the sky and see that the sun had shifted remarkably since we got here, looking at the time.

"Damn, 1400 already... You hungry, kid?" He nods and goes over to May and Pepper to get some food. "Alright, then," I chuckle and make sure anyone else got food too. It was just the Avengers, May, Morgan, and my family up there, with Tex for medical emergencies.

"What is with you and hitting stuff that shouldn't be hit?" Rocket asks with a raised eyebrow and I shrug one shoulder, catching the sandwich he tosses me.

"Better than punching people, dude." I sit next to Indri and he eats his food, glancing at me.

"Why do you keep threatening to eat people?" Tony asks around a bite of his sandwich and I look at Yondu, seeing him giving Tony his knife smirk.

"Family tradition."

"It's a family tradition to threaten to eat someone in the family?" Peter gapes at me and I grin, eating the sandwich. "Who did that even start with?"

"Gramps started it with Dad, did it with me, and still does sometimes... Now it's this kid's turn."

"Why?"

"Because Gramp's crew ain't never tasted Terran before," I quote with a smirk and Yondu chuckles. "Though I guess it would be Celestial now...Hm..." I take another bite of the sandwich and notice Indri kinda looking at me. "Y'know, if ya want, Ah can strike a pose so ya can take a picture," I say around the bite and he rolls his eyes.

"You're disgusting. At least swallow your food," He grumbles and I roll my eyes, shoving him lightly. "Do you have to shove me all the time?"

"Do you have to be so shoveable all the time?"

"That's not even a word!"

"Is now."

"How is it a word?"

"Older sister magic," I say simply with a slight wiggle of my fingers in front of his face and he glares at me, hitting them away. "Ah, yes. We're going to get along great, pipsqueak."

"I am not a pipsqueak!"

"Of course not," I smirk and hold him away from me with a hand on his face easily. He bites at my arm and bites my thumb. "You little bastard!" He glares at me and I chuckle, smirking. "Oh, yeah. We're gonna get along."

"He just bit you! How in the Hell are you going to get along?" Bruce looks at me and was confused.

"He is a male, Zehoberei version of me when I was his age. Kinda. In a way." He looks more confused and I think for a moment to find the right words. "What I mean is... He reminds me of how I was when Gramps picked me up. Which is a nice and subtle way to call the kid a little asshole," I smirk at Indri and he launches himself at me, knocking us both into the snow. We tumble down the slope a bit and kinda fight.

"Gods, a bunch of idiots in this family," Aleta mutters and we both freeze, looking at her. "What?"

"You called us a family. That's a victory for me." Indri looks at me incredulously and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"How's it a victory for you? I've known her for the past seven years!"

"And I've known her for the past..." I think about that for a second and he looks at me. "Longer than that."

"Oh yeah? How long's that?" He smirks and I look at him.

"I don't know whether to be annoyed or proud of how cocky that sounds... Bit of both..."

"That didn't answer my question." I flick him in the forehead and stand, helping him up while I think.

"Let's see... I'm about thirty-two now... Met all of these nutcases when I was ten or eleven... So about twenty-one to twenty-two years."

"Wow... You're old," He smirks as he runs off and I take my boot off, beaming him in the back of the head with it. "Ouch!" He falls to the ground and glares at me, grabbing my boot. "What the Hell?"

"Now give it back." He looks at the edge of the mountain and I narrow my eyes at him. "Don't. You. Dare." He throws it over the edge and the others howl in laughter. "Oh, you dared." I take my other boot off and throw it at him, beaming him in the face. "Oh, shit! You good?" I go over to him and his nose was bleeding. "Hey, at least my aim's still good!" He throws my other boot off the edge too and I nod a bit. "Yeah... I kinda deserved that one." He goes back over and I follow, both of us sitting down.

"Ya... Ya a'ight, boy?" Yondu asks through laughter and he wipes some blood off of his nose, nodding. "Good... Yer feet cold, girl?" He cackles and I roll my eyes, sitting with my legs crossed like a pretzel in front of me.

"Nope." He laughs with the others for a bit at my misfortune and I eat my sandwich, kinda grinning.

"Here, Rogue." Jay hands me another pair of boots and I raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm always prepared. I had a second pair of boots and we wear the same size, kinda."

"No thanks."

"It's about time to head back to the cabin, anyway," May says and I raise an eyebrow at her as I finish my sandwich. "We still have to make Christmas dinner and give out gifts."

"Right, that's a thing that happens. Very good point," Indri says and stands up, done eating. "Let's go!" He shoves Jay slightly and he grabs him by the back of his collar.

"Chill, kid. We'll get back to the cabin when we get there. Shoving me around isn't going to get you there faster. Got it?" He nods and sits back down once Jay lets him go. "Good." Jay looks at me a bit and I pause in drinking from a water bottle, wiping at my mouth.

"What'd I do?"

"You going to be OK to walk down the mountain with no boots and after getting bitten by a snake?" He smirks at me and I scoff, rolling my eyes.

"Yes, Fletch, I will be able to walk down the mountain." He just smiles and I look at the straps on my board, thinking. "Hmmm..." I decide against using the snowboard without boots and notice Yondu looking around a bit.

"K, ya mind?" Krugarr shakes his head and opens a portal to the cabin, which everyone goes through with their equipment. "'Ey, Darlin'," Yondu grins at a woman with a medical symbol on her arm and they kiss while Indri runs into the kitchen, wanting to help the others with Christmas Dinner. I look at her while I put my snowboarding gear up and see that it was a species that had four arms. _A Kivax, I think._ She sees me looking at her as she pulls away while I pull my leather jacket on then my rocket boots and kneel to lace them up.

I take the damned helmet off last and set it near the rest of the gear before I stand, making eye contact with her. "You must be Rogue."

"You must be Yondu's woman."

"Yes." I look her up and down and say nothing, just wanting to watch her squirm. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine."

"Girl. Be nice."

"I am being very nice."

"You sound more sarcastic than I do, kid," Rocket points out and that was true. I shrug one shoulder and look at her still. She clears her throat awkwardly and I smirk slightly, going over to her. I circle her once and she watches me with her eyes.

"Um, what's she doing, Yondu?" He shrugs and I stop in front of her, looking down at her. "What was that about?"

"Making sure Yondu hasn't bitten you."

"Well, not where one could see currently," She says with a smirk and a blush, making Yondu blush purple. I laugh and grin at her.

"I like you already. Good to meet you." I offer her my hand and she shakes it. "How long have you known the blue idiot?"

"A few years. Kraglin and the crew helped us get together." I smirk at Yondu and he kinda glares at me.

"To a couple of idiots realizing they love each other." He tries to hit me in the head and I dodge it, leaning back while I chuckle.

"What?" She looks at me in confusion and I grin.

"Most couples in this family are a bunch of idiots when it comes to love. It takes us years to realize it. You guys probably took the least amount of time but the most amount of effort from the people around you." She chuckles a bit and nods. "Did they tie you up and leave you in his quarters? Or on his M-ship?" She blushes and I grin, dodging an attack from Yondu easily.

"Now... Did you two get back together yet?" I ask the Ogords and Yondu stops attacking me to look shocked.

"Nuh-uh. Ah ain't gittin' in the way 'a this." He moves and leads his woman out of the way too.

"Why do you care?" Aleta asks and I look at her.

"Because it's obvious you two still at least like the other one. Even if the circumstances surrounding you two breaking up were rough."

"And what do you know about those?" Stakar growls and I realize I fucked up. _Too far to back down now. Damn._

"More than you think I do." He advances and I watch him closely, eye level with him now. _Took long enough._

"And how's that?" He snarls and I notice his hands in fists at his sides.

"The Kree like to gloat," I say carefully and dodge the punch he throws at me. _Damn, he's fast for his age!_

He gets a punch to my gut in and that knocks all of the air out of my body but I stay standing out of sheer stubbornness. He swings at me again and I catch his hand, looking at him. "I chose the wrong time to bring it up. I'm sorry. But, now's not the best place or the best time for you to show how displeased you are about my timing," I say softly and he looks at me, realizing I'm right.

"This isn't over."

"Wouldn't dream of this being the end of it, Stakar," I say with a slight bow of my head while I let go of his hand to show respect and he turns.

Once he's out of the room, I sit on the stairs and breathe slowly for a moment. "That looked painful," Yondu's woman says helpfully and I don't respond for a moment.

"What in all of the Hells is Stakar's hand made out of? Gods..." I stand once I have a handle on the pain and reflexively brush my hands against my legs, still getting used to the fact that I have more clothes than I was used to. Indri comes back in and comes over to me. "What?"

"You can dance?" He sounds so shocked and I'm slightly hurt by that.

"Yes, I can dance."

"And you haven't shown off yet?" I roll my eyes and he looks at me. "Aren't you gonna show off?"

"Nope."

"Why not? Loki said you were good at it and Thor backed him up!"

"Want to know a good thing about being older than you and your Captain?"

"What?"

"It means that I don't have to explain myself to you. So drop it."

"Come on! Don't be so boring! I want to see you dance!"

"Indri!" I bark and he looks at me, shutting up. "I said no and that's final. Drop it or else I'll drop-kick you. Got it?"

"Yeah," He mutters and goes back into the kitchen. I notice the others looking at me and Jay raises an eyebrow at me.

"What?"

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Yondu's woman asks and I look at her.

"Don't you think you should mind your own business?"

"'Ey, don'cha talk ta Lumes tha' way, kid!" Kraglin growls and I growl wordlessly at him.

"I'm going for a walk," I say simply and walk out of the door after turning on my heel as I grab my warm coat, slamming the door behind me before walking into the woods. I practice with my arrow as I walk and just let my feet lead me wherever I'm going.

I end up at the graveyard and pull the hood of my coat up, going over to Mom's grave. I crouch down in front of it and wipe the snow off of it, looking at it closely. I gently brush my fingers along it and say nothing.


	5. Chapter 5

I hear something behind me but decide to ignore it for now and look at Mom's grave, sighing softly. "It's been a while, Momma..." I whisper and move to be on one knee, making sure everything was off of her gravestone. "Sorry 'bout that... But it was out of my control... There's a lot of things I've always wanted to ask you... But, I'm kinda glad you aren't here right now... I'm making a mess of things here... Because my list of issues has gotten longer since the last time I visited..." I rub the back of my neck and sigh again, hanging my head a bit.

"Wha'cha doin', girl?" I stand and spin to look at Yondu, seeing him staring at me.

"What the Hell, Gramps? Trying to give me a heart attack?" I scoff and he narrows his eyes at me. "I'm visiting my Mom like I do every time I'm on this damned rock."

"Y'know, ya can fool yerself an' everyone else. But ya can't fool me. Ah know who ya are."

"Do you now?"

"Ah know everything 'bout ya. Ya play like yer the meanest an' the hardest. But yer the most scared 'a all!"

"Is that so?"

"Ah know ya push away anyone who wants ta put up with ya. Cuz jus' a lil' bit 'a love reminds ya tha' ya got a big an' empty hole inside 'a ya!"

"Are you done?"

"Ah know them, people, ya was with when Krags grabbed ya ain't gave a rat's ass 'bout ya! Jus' like m'own damn parents! Who sold me, they own lil' baby, into slavery! Ah know who ya is, girl... Cuz yer me." He stares at me intently and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"That's the same speech you gave Rocket before you fought Ego, Gramps. Rocket told me it at that job on Xandar all those years ago after getting drunk. So. You done now?" He glares at me and I nod slightly, heading back to the cabin with him following close behind me.

We get back to the cabin and something was off. I go up to the door and see it was partially open while I notice curtains move away from the window slightly, allowing me to see Yondu coming up behind me with a knife. I whistle sharply and cut his face, green blood pooling out of the cut. "Not today, bitch," I smirk and whistle again, sending my arrow through their throat before taking the knife.

The door gets flung open and I'm thrown inside as they yank the warm coat off, seeing my family, the Avengers, and their family tied up with Yondu gagged so he can't whistle. All of them were, for some weird reason. The knife goes flying toward the wall to the right of the door and I end up on the floor in front of the kids.

"I suggest you two find a happy place and ignore everything that's about to happen to save you from trauma," I warn them softly and watch them do that.

"Well, well, well... It seems we have quite the predicament on our hands." I stand and look at the stairs where a Skrull with markings to show they were important was standing. "Slaves should bow before their Masters, 22-3-16," She says simply and I make a show of looking around the room before looking back at her.

"Well... That's interesting... I don't see any slaves around here... Just a couple of pompous asshats that are gonna get their asses handed to them in a minute for breaking into my house and fucking with my friends and family," I smirk as I take my gloves off and the one that threw me in punches me in the mouth, knocking me onto my ass.

"Watch your mouth!" He snarls and I wipe my hand across my mouth, seeing the blood on the back of it.

"You made me bleed my own blood. How dare you?" I stand and he punches me in the mouth again, knocking me back onto the floor. "That's gonna get real old real quick." I run my tongue over my teeth and find one he knocked out, spitting it in his face with blood. "Enjoy the memento, asshat. Because you're only getting, maybe, three more hits like that. If it's one of my good days." I stand and he kicks me hard enough that I go flying into the wall behind the others, crumbling to the floor with the drywall.

"There's one," He scoffs and I stand again, looking at him.

"Nope. That kick counted for six. My turn." I peel my jacket off as I go toward him and he swings at me. I duck under his arm and slide between his legs, stabbing him in his throat with the knife. He falls to the floor once I remove the knife and I spin it slightly, holding it against my wrist. One of the other guards comes over and lunges at me. I crouch and use her momentum to send her flying into a wall, making the drywall crumble around her.

"Damn, gonna have to fix two holes, now," I sigh and step backward to avoid a knife getting thrown at my face. "That was not very cash money of you, my guy." Peter laughs and I look at the Skrull who threw it. He unbuckles a whip from his belt and snaps it on the floor, smirking at me. "Ah, yes, that thing. Zero out of ten, would not recommend." He looks confused and snaps it at me. I raise my arm to keep it from hitting me in the face and it wraps around it.

"Perfect." He yanks the whip and I fall onto my face.

"You missed the perfect opportunity to say 'yoink' as you did that. I have never been more disappointed in my life." I wrap the whip around my hand as I stand and yank it out of his while saying "Yoink, you fucking filthy cunt bucket." I catch the handle with my other hand, the knife in my pocket for now, and unwrap it from my arm and hand quickly. "Like that. See how easy it was?" He lunges at me and I move to the side, wrapping the whip around his throat easily.

"Now, you are going to be restricted airflow into your lungs meaning you can't breathe and will slowly start to lose all feeling in your body before you lose consciousness. Where you will either die or be close to dying. Asphyxiation and drowning, I hear they're two of the most terrifying ways to die because you're unable to stop it and are hyper-aware of everything as you get closer and closer to the cold yet sweet embrace of death. However, I don't have the time or patience for that. So..." I yank both ends of the whip and decapitate him. "That will have to suffice for now."

"Die!" The Skrull woman from earlier yells and I lift the blade, impaling her on it since she was jumping at me.

"Nah, not today." I look at the Head Honcho and see she was the last one standing. "It's just you now, bitch. What you gonna do now that you don't have guards to hide behind?" I smirk and she looks at me before simply bolting. "Wasn't expecting that..." I toss the blade slightly and throw it, lodging it in her fancy cape to pin her to the doorframe.

"Now! Do it now!" She yells and Kraglin gets thrown over the banister, a whip wrapped around his throat. "Kraglin Obfonteri, for crimes against the Skrulls, your Masters, you are sentenced to death!" She smirks at me and I glare at her. "You have to either save him or kill me now. You can't have it both ways." I growl wordlessly and punch her in the face, knocking her out, I think. I go up the stairs and kick the two guards away from the whip tied to the banister before I quickly untie it. He falls to the floor and coughs, looking up at me.

"Run, kid! Tha' was a trap!" The two guards come over and grab me. I snarl and bite both of their arms, making them let go of me. One of them tries to grab me again and I launch myself over the banister, probably fucking my leg up but who cares? I quickly free Kraglin and he rubs his neck slightly.

"Surrender or I will kill the little ones!" The important one yells and I glare at her, seeing her pointing a blaster at each of the kids. Then she looks around and sees Jay. "Actually... I'll kill these two." She points one at Indri and one at Jay. "Your choice!" She smirks and I think for a moment before dropping to one knee, the box with my snowboarding equipment behind me, passing the knife to Kraglin carefully.

"Good choice." She lowers the blasters and I beam her in the face with my helmet, knocking her onto her ass from the force while I go over. "Why you little..." She starts to get back up but I kick her in the face and knock her back down before kicking the blasters away carefully, toward Kraglin so he could deal with the other two. She grabs my ankle and pulls me onto the floor before getting on top of me. I flip us and pin her down, not holding back as I whale on her face with my fist.

I have to be physically pulled off by Thor and Bucky. "She's dead," Bucky says and I see that he was right because I had beaten her to death. They let me go and I notice my arm and hand is a violent red from the whip being wrapped around them, surprised they weren't bleeding. Senso was helping Kraglin into a chair so Lumes could check him over and pain explodes in my leg since the adrenaline of a fight was wearing off. I sit in a chair and Indri runs over, putting his hands on my knees.

"Are you OK, Rogue?" He looks at me and I pat his head gently, glancing slightly at Kraglin. He waves a bandaged hand at me and I look at it with a raised eyebrow. "They already checked my blood. Not green." I ruffle his hair with a slight grin and he smiles back before going away, leaving a rag. I wipe my hands off to get rid of the green blood and watch disinterestedly as Jaz and Tex deal with their bodies.

"You've rubbed at that same spot five times, kid. It's already off." I look up and see Dad until I blink, then Rocket's there. "You gonna finish cleaning your hands or just stare at me all day?" I roll my eyes and finish cleaning my hands off before he takes the rag, dealing with it.

Lumes comes over after fixing Kraglin up and looks at my leg. "What are you doing?"

"When you landed, there was a loud snap. Didn't you hear it?"

"Nope. Was more worried about other things. Like fighting."

"As if you were still with the Kree," She says carefully and I don't respond for a moment, noticing the silence in the room, before I barely nod. "Everything feels like it's falling apart when it should feel like it's coming back together." She finds what snapped earlier and snaps it back into place, making me growl loudly in pain while I grip the arms of the chair. "Sorry. Needed to set your bone." She puts a brace on and brushes her hands against each other slightly. "There. Take it easy and it'll be healed by the end of the week."

"You got it, Doc. Thanks..." She nods and goes back over to Yondu. I watch them out of the corner of my eye and Yondu lights up when she comes over. They talk to each other softly and she smiles at him, both of them looking happy, Yondu looking happier than I've ever seen him look. Morgan comes over and I look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Will your tooth grow back? The one you spit at that guy before he kicked you. I saw it before I did what you told me to do. Why'd they have to check everybody's blood?"

"The Skrull are shapeshifters and annoying things that like to take shape of someone their target was close to so they can lure the target in and either A, kill them. Or B, capture them to make them a slave." She looks scared at that and Tony glares at me. "They wouldn't have taken or hurt you. They were using everyone as leverage to get what they wanted." That doesn't seem to help as she gets more scared at that and Pepper just guides Morgan away from me.

"Maybe don't talk to my kid. About anything unless Pepper and I have okayed it. OK?"

"Sure, Stark. Whatever you say." He walks away and I rub the back of my neck, kind of annoyed at myself now because I didn't mean to scare the kid. I just don't sugarcoat shit if I'm asked a question point-blank and I give the honest answer when they need to know it. Which, in my opinion, she did need to know and now her parents are pissed at me. "Lovely," I mutter under my breath and rest my head against the back of the chair, closing my eyes as I move my hand to rest my temple against my fingers with my elbow on the arm of the chair.

Someone plops on the couch next to the chair and just sits there silently. "I chose a chair on the other side of the room from people for a reason," I plainly state and don't even open my eyes to see who it is, expecting them to leave.

"Guess that means you don't want the booze?" Rocket asks and I crack one eye open to see him holding two glasses, finishing one of them. "I can always drink it," He smirks and I take one, sitting up as I open my eyes. "Guess you do want it." I hit him in the head and he falls off of the couch.

"That was not supposed to be that hard... My bad..." He gets up and dusts himself off, glaring at me. "Sorry, Rocket..." He storms off as a response and I down the booze, standing.

"Rogue, you should try to stay off your leg as much as possible while it heals," Lumes tells me carefully and I set the glass down on the table, looking at her.

"I'll be on it for five minutes, max. Then I'm getting off of it. Alright?" She nods and I leave the cabin, walking for a bit. I board the Milano and sit on the bunk, looking around a bit.

I see Dad and Gamora dancing together at their wedding near Controls, the two of them decked out with clothes for that job on Xandar when I was twelve, their smiling faces from Dad's stealing, them sparring with me with smiles on their faces, them teaching me how to shoot large blasters with Rocket's help, them participating in my stealing, them smiling and cheering loudly at my wedding, our first Christmas celebration, them with Indri, when they got me back fully, and the two of them falling to the ground, their hands clasping the others in their last moments. Then I see Indri and Jay getting blasted, even if it hadn't happened.

"Damnit..." I fold my hands on the back of my head with my elbows on my knees and watch a few tears drip onto the floor quickly, closing my eyes against them. "Damnit... Why can't they just leave us alone? Then they would still be here... Damnit!" I sit up and hit the wall next to the bunk with one hand while wiping at my face with the other.

"Feel better?" I look at Rocket and he was leaning against the door to Dad and Gamora's room, looking at me.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since you got on." He looks around the ship a bit and flips a switch, turning off the holograms that I thought were hallucinations. "Quill had a stockpile of videos, even the new ones, kept them up to date and configured to back up while they were being recorded. Figured I'd watch them. You didn't answer my question. Feel better?" He walks over and looks at me with his arms crossed, making me roll my eyes.

"Yeah, feel so much better. Thanks for asking." He reaches his tiny paw through the brace and presses against my leg, hard. I gasp and groan in pain

"Feel better? Truth, this time." He pulls his paw out and I pant a bit.

"No... OK? They just got me back... Then we all lose them because of the damned Kree! Because they tried to save Indri and Morgan! Why did they always have to be the damned heroes? Why couldn't the Avengers, the protectors of Earth do something? Why did it have to be my damn family? Haven't we lost enough? We... They didn't even get to say goodbye..." He watches me as I rant and eventually as I breakdown, curling into myself. "I... I didn't get to tell them anything that I want to now..."

"Like what?" I look at him and he waves his paw slightly. "They ain't gone yet. Might as well say it now... And I want to hear," He says awkwardly and I wipe at my face, getting rid of the tears.

"Gamora kinda became my Mom... She was the one that taught me the stuff I needed to know when Dad, Gramps, or Krags wouldn't... And Dad... He wasn't as terrible as he always seemed to be when I was younger... That being told they were dead did break me as bad as when I was told Gramps and Krags were dead... That... That I love them," I finish in a lame whisper and don't look at him, rubbing my face a bit.

"They knew that stuff, kid. You never had to tell them. Cuz they already knew. So stop that crying and pull through, like you always do. Cuz you're too damn stubborn to do anything else. It's gonna be OK." He pats my leg gently and I give him a small smile, making him sigh. He hugs me and I tense a bit, surprised before I hug him back.

"Rocket..."

"What?"

"You're not terrible either... And... Yeah..."

"Yeah... Back atcha, kid..." He pats my back gently and we let each other go, seeing Drax in the doorway with a holopad as I wipe tears off of my face.

"Drax, what did you do?" He taps a few things and my wrist com buzzes. I tap it and a holographic picture of me hugging Rocket with tear tracks on my face pops up. Rocket looks at me as he gets the same and Drax walks off, smirking because he was proud of himself.

"That is for saying that I am toxic. I have sent it to Indri, the rest of the Guardians, all of the crews, Captains, and the other Terrans. Enjoy being a Captain while it lasts!" I was tense on the bunk and can feel my heart rate spike while my breathing gets shorter and faster. Rocket looks at me and gently grabs my face with both of his paws, making me look at him.

"Hey, kid. Calm down. It's fine. You're fine." He gently digs his claws into my face and I wince a bit, calming down. "Mantis ain't the only one who can calm you down," He mutters with a smirk and I kinda laugh, breathing normal and heart rate going back to where it should be. "See? You're fine." I nod and stand just as Stakar boards with Mainframe.

"Leave, Rat."

"Not happening. You're stuck with me."

"Why's that?" He raises an eyebrow at the two of us and I rest my hand gently on Rocket's head to ground me, which he allows.

"He's the only thing keeping me sane right now and from killing Drax."

"Care to explain that picture?"

"I'm trying a new grieving technique. It's called not burying my feelings until I explode. And not meeting them at the bottom of a bottle. Better late than never." I shrug and my wrist com buzzes again, showing an incoming video transmission from Jay. "Give me a minute and we can continue this conversation," I mutter and go into a room before answering the transmission. "What's up, Jay?" I notice he was outside in the backyard and he smiles at me.

_"Just checking in on you. You OK?"_ I shrug a bit and he smiles gently at me. _"Well, I love you, sweet girl. OK?"_

"I love you, too, alienboy..." I smile a bit and he smiles back before ending the transmission after a few moments of silence. I go back out to the main area and lean against the wall slightly to get some weight off of my leg since it was starting to hurt.

"It isn't like you to show your emotions so easily, Rogue. Are you alright?" Mainframe looks at me, worried, and I shrug a bit until Rocket kicks my foot in the brace.

"No, I'm not... Not right now, at least. Today hasn't been the best... Because Dad died early this morning with Gamora..." I rub my neck a bit and Mainframe looks at me sympathetically and with a little bit of pity. "I'll be back to myself soon." I grin reassuringly and she smiles back.

"How soon?"

"I'll try to pull myself together by the time the annual meeting comes up, Stakar."

"Alright. Grieve healthily, but not around Drax." I nod my understanding and he comes over, patting my shoulder before pulling me into a one-armed hug. "We all feel the loss... Now, I suggest, going to find Drax and kicking his ass."

"My pleasure," I smirk as he lets me go and I start to go toward the door.

"Cap'n!" I stop when Tex appears in the door and we all look at him. "There's something wrong with Jay," He pants and I tense slightly.

"Lead the way, Tex." He nods and leads the way with me close behind.

We end up on the back porch and Jay was laying in the snow, about four feet from the porch steps. I go over and carefully kneel on the side that Lumes wasn't on, my back to the porch. "Rogue...?" He looks at me and I run my fingers through his hair slightly. "What... What's happening?"

"The Docs are trying to figure that out, Jay. It'll be OK."

"OK..." He smiles at me a bit and I smile back. "Hold my hand?" He whispers and I nod, gently lifting his bare hand to hold it in mine. I press it to my lips gently and he smiles, twisting his wrist to gently cup my cheek. I lean into it slightly and he smiles weakly at me. "I love you, sweet girl..."

"I love you, too, alienboy..."

"I'm glad that'll be one of the last things I say to you..."

"Hey, don't talk like that. You're gonna be fine. You probably got the flu or something. Or your body is telling you to sleep. But you'll be fine. You have to be," I whisper and he smiles at me.

"If you say so..." I look at Lumes as I go back to holding his hand and she had her eyebrows furrowed.

"Got anything, Doc?"

"No... I can't find what's afflicting him..."

"Keep looking. Please," I whisper and she does that, scanning his body.

"Rogue..." I look at Jay and he gently pulls me down to kiss me. I kiss him back and pull away after a moment. He smiles gently at me and closes his eyes. "I love you," He murmurs and I squeeze his hand gently.

"I love you, too..." He smiles and squeezes my hand back before it goes limp. He starts to turn to dust and I watch in shock. The dust gets absorbed by the ground and I drop my hand against my thigh, not sure how to react to whatever the Hell just happened.

My wrist com buzzing snaps me out of my trance and I accept the video transmission that's coming through from an unknown frequency as Lumes stands while I follow suit, gritting my teeth against the pain in my leg.

_"Hello, 22-3-16. How is 33-4-17 doing? Especially since we destroyed the planet that housed the life source that he inherited from his mother?"_ A Kree leader asks with a smirk and I look at the transmission, noticing Lumes looking shocked.

"They what?" She whispers and I clench my fist at my side.

"You did what?"

_"We destroyed the planet that housed his life source. As a celestial, which is what you two are, you will each have a life source at the base of a planet. We are searching for your mother's planet which you would have inherited with a life source. Did he die a painful death? Or did he simply turn to dust? Because you will soon suffer the same fate as him."_ I clench my fist tighter and stand straighter, pissed.

"You destroyed his life source?"

_"Are you that daft? Yes, we did. Should we explain anything else to you slowly so you can understand, slave 22-3-16?"_

"Then you're going to wish all that happens to you is being turned to dust. All of you are getting destroyed for this."

_"Is that supposed to scare us?"_ They laugh and I feel a cold grin spread across my face.

"If you had any brain cells, you would be. I'll see you soon enough, you Kree scum." I end the transmission and pop my knuckles, pissed beyond belief, as I turn to go inside.

"Kid, take a second and breathe before you do something stupid!" Rocket yells and I push past him.

"No! Allow her to get herself killed by trying to take on the Kree on her own!" Drax laughs and I freeze, turning after a short moment to look at Drax.

"You mean like you did on Knowhere?"

"You speak of affairs that you know nothing about!" He growls and I look at him.

"That is true. And you have no respect."

"That is also true," Rocket adds in a mutter and shuts up after a short glare from Lumes.

"You called Ronan to satisfy your need for revenge against him when everyone else was trying to figure out what the Hell was in the orb you idiots gave to the Nova Corps. You had to get your sorry ass dragged out of a giant pot of yellow crap because Ronant kicked your ass. Groot had to save your stupid ass. You being a dumbass set on revenge while the rest of your team was trying to find a plan to help you get it while saving a planet almost got you killed and let Ronan get the damned thing you were trying to keep him from getting. You take your misery out on anyone around you because you hate being the one who lived while you watched your family die. You become more of an unbearable ass when you get called out on it because you can't stand being shown your weaknesses or how you screwed up. You're called Drax the Destroyer. I think it's because you destroy any good thing that comes your way. After all, you're such an asshole to anyone around you! So before you start talking shit about me, you better be a damned perfect person! I am not going to put up with your bullshit!"

While I was talking, I was walking towards him and he was walking backward for each step I took. "You have no right to speak to me this way! At least I did not allow my father to stand up for my honor when I was grown! I have more honor than you will ever have!"

"Fuck honor! I don't give a damned about that! Those fucking assholes killed my family! I will be damned if I allow them to hurt anyone else I care about! Not even your dumbass!" I shove him in the middle of his chest and he stumbles back a step before he swings at me, hitting me in the face. I stumble slightly and clench my fist tightly, breathing heavily. I take a deep breath and look at him.

"I never said I was taking on the Kree by myself. Just that they were going to be destroyed for what they've done today. I'm sorry for what I said... I shouldn't have said it... It was said in anger and I apologize..." He looks shocked and nods slightly.

"I apologize as well..." We were a decent distance from the others and I rub my face, sighing softly.

"Do you want to help me take down the Kree?"

"Yes."

"Then a team's getting made, alright?" He nods and I lick my lips slightly. "Also, don't hit me again. Or I'll have to kick your ass worse than this." I punch him in the face and he stumbles to the side a bit. "Watch yourself, Drax. We might be family, but I can't handle losing a crew today too," I murmur to him and he barely nods, flexing his jaw a bit.

"'Ey, Kid!" I turn and catch the sword Kraglin tosses me as he walks over. "Gamora woulda wanted ya ta 'ave it." I attach it to my hip and take the knives he offers me. "Ya need yer stuff if yer gonna take 'em down. Yeah?" He grins and I smirk, putting the holsters where they belong. "'Ere." He hands me a holster for my arrow and I hold it in my hands.

"Oh, I've missed having a spot for my arrow," I mutter and attach it to my belt loop, whistling my arrow into it. "That's more like it." I grin and Rocket comes over.

"Gamora wanted you and Drax to have her weapons if anything happened to her. So... Here. Drax already got what he wanted." He hands me a few things and I attach them to my hip and thigh, twirling the fighting staff around my hand seamlessly. "How... Never mind. What's your plan?"


	6. Chapter 6

"That's your plan? That's not even one percent of a plan!" We had moved into the living room and I roll my eyes at Rocket, gathering up everything necessary for leaving the planet.

"It is at least ten percent of a plan!"

"I am Groot!"

"Thank you, Groot! See, Rocket? He agrees with me and he's smart!" I look up as I finish gathering my stuff(mainly clothes and weapons from the Skrulls) to see him eating a leaf off of a tree branch that was near a window and Rocket raises an eyebrow. "He's smart for a tree, OK? Gods... OK, no, I don't have much of a plan. But, a plan is still a plan. It's just... Being developed." 

"You're entire plan is getting a team together and kicking the Kree's ass. That's just an idea, not quite a plan," Tony says and I look at him. "It's true."

"Thank you, Stark! He's smart!" I flip Rocket off and put my stuff in a bag, shouldering it easily.

"Well, first thing first... You need a new First Mate," Stakar says simply and I can see the awkwardness and pain in his eyes as he says it.

"Nebula," She looks at me from where she was leaning against the door frame and stands straight. "You're my new First Mate."

"Aye, Captain." I nod and look at Stakar, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Anything else?"

"Just that you have all of the Ravager Clans behind you. Just as any Captain would." I nod and raise my eyebrow at Peter when he steps forward.

"I can help, too."

"Kid, I appreciate the offer, but no." 

"Well, tough. You don't get a say because we're helping you," Steve says simply and I press my hands together, taking a slow breath while looking at them.

"Why?" I point my fingers at them with a bend of my wrist and Peter kinda laughs before clearing his throat to cover it when Tony quirks an eyebrow at him.

"They have it in their idiot heads that we're family," Rocket explains with an eye roll and I rub my face slightly as I nod.

"I see... Fine. I ain't coming back to the planet until next Christmas, so you aren't getting a ride back from me." Indri comes over with a bunch of photo albums and I look at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you have that shit?" He sets them on the coffee table and opens them all up, arranging them a certain way. "I love not getting an answer when I ask a question," I scoff and go over to him, looking at the pages they were open to.

"I think I know where your Mom's life source was. See? Your grandparents kept pictures she made and put them in the albums. Gramps said that you said your Mom pulled a Superman? Who's Superman?"

"A superhero from another planet who got sent to Earth, Terra, here as an infant because his home planet was being destroyed. How would she know what her life source looked like if she was a baby when she landed here, smart guy?"

"She could have gotten visions about her life source. Do I have to figure everything out for you? I mean, I already found bits and pieces of what it looks like," He smirks and I hit him in the head for being a smartass.

"Watch it, smartass. Finding bits and pieces doesn't mean you've figured everything out. Gods, just like Dad," I mutter under my breath and kneel next to him, looking at the pictures. "They're pretty well detailed... They're dated too... She would've been about fifteen to eighteen when she drew these... Hm," I carefully take them out of the sleeves they were in and arrange them carefully. "Fucking Celestials, man... First, there's Ego being an egotistical jackass... Then there's my mother... Why can't I have a normal family? Is it that much to ask?" I mutter under my breath as I continue arranging the pictures and look at them when it's done.

"OK... Do you recognize the picture?" Indri tries and I look at him.

"I have never seen that before."

"Maybe you didn't study other systems as well as you should have," He scoffs and looks at me.

"Kid. Get away from me. Or I might hurt you." He gets on the couch and I notice something in the corners, grabbing a notebook and pen from under the table.

"What the Hell are you doing?" Rocket watches me and I scribble out the letters, arranging them the way they're supposed to be.

"Going on a scavenger hunt, apparently," I scoff and stand, going over to the bookshelf. "The picture that the puzzle of other pictures formed is supposed to be a planet, I guess. But, it's too ridiculous to be one, I've never once seen it, and Yondu made me study every planet in the stars to keep me from annoying him. In the corners of the pictures, though, there's a language on there. It's a Terran language. Keiko had me study the alphabet of it. I can't remember what it's called."

"What does it say then?" I look at Tony and he shuts up before I continue to look at the bookshelf, grabbing one. I thumb through the pages quickly and press the open book to my forehead for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"OK... Fine..." I see Morgan standing next to me and simply pick her up, putting her on the stairs. "Stay."

"What are you doing?"

"Trashing the cabin. Like this," I grab the bookshelf and throw it onto the floor, having muscles and strength from constant fighting.

There's a door behind the bookshelf and I simply place the groove of my boot(between the heel and sole of it) against the bottom of the bookshelf, shoving it farther away from the door. I try the handle and it's locked. "I think I saw a key around here somewhere," Loki supplies and I look at him.

"No need." I kick the door beside the handle twice and it breaks open. "I had one in my boot." I push the door open more and look toward Tony when he whistles, catching the flashlight he tosses me. "That's helpful." I turn it on and point it into the room, looking around it.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asks and comes over, going inside. I pull her back and a shotgun goes off, blowing a hole into the door across from where she was.

"Seeing if there were any of those. How about being patient before just barging into a hidden room in the house that had a huge stash of guns and money all over it?" She doesn't respond and I take my knife out of my thigh holster, crouching down to slice a wire that she had hit when she went in. I check the doorway for more tripwires and step through it, taking the shotgun out of the hole in the wall to hand it to her. "Enjoy the memento."

"Gee, thanks." She rolls her eyes and I try a light switch, nothing happening.

"Damn." I sweep the flashlight across the room and stairs, going down them. "Hey, any of you have a sledgehammer?"

"I mean, we have Hulk. Will that work?" Tony calls down and I look up at them.

"NO! A hammer! Not Hulk!"

"No, we don't."

"Of course not." I look around the room and whistle softly, my arrow flitting around my head while I sweep the flashlight around the room. "Hm..." I point it at the floor and feel something at the back of my mind which causes something to eat at my gut before I fall against a wall, head swimming. 

"You alright?" Natasha asks from my side and I take a couple of deep breaths. "I'm getting the Docs." She goes to do that and I follow up the stairs carefully, head still swimming as I do.

"Cap'n, you alright?" Tex asks once I'm up the stairs and I point toward the Master Quarters up the other stairs.

"Get your gear in those Quarters. Now." He nods and does that while I grab the doorframe of the hidden door, head swimming more.

"Ya a'ight, Kid?" I go upstairs to meet Tex in the Master Quarters and can feel them watching me, not caring right now.

I sit heavily on the bed and Tex looks at me. "Cap, what's wrong?"

"My head... Check it over... Everywhere... Get a picture of it with one of your things like you would if I had broken my arm... Hurry up..." I pant and he does as he's told, checking my head over meticulously. 

"That ain't right... I'm gonna get Lumes, Cap'n." I motion for him to have at it and close my eyes for a moment, opening them again when they come back. "Look." He shows her what he saw and she furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "That ain't supposed to be there, is it?"

"No... It isn't... Rogue, we'll be putting you under to figure out what that is."

"Have at it... Do it quickly..." She nods and helps me lay down on my stomach where I could still breathe before putting me under.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I wake, my head isn't swimming but it does hurt a little bit and I sit up carefully. Lumes and Tex look at me and she does something on her wrist com. "What'd you just do?"

Stakar comes in and pulls me to my feet by my jacket lapels. "What the Hell are you doing?"

"What?"

"Why do you have the technology to spy on us in your head?" He growls and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"What? I have no clue what you're talking about, Stakar..." He lets me go and takes a holopad from Lumes, shoving it in my face as he plays a video on it. I watch and it was everything that had happened from my perspective. "What the Hell is that?"

"Data from the technology they took out of your head." Lumes shows it to me and I look at it, eyebrows still furrowed. "Kree technology. Why was it in your head?"

"I don't know. I didn't put it there and I didn't know it was there. I guess that's what was screwing with my head... Stakar, the Kree probably put it in so they could watch the fights I was in afterward whenever they wanted." I look at the two Docs and they look at me. "Thank you for getting it out of my head. I appreciate it." They nod and leave when Stakar waves his hand slightly, looking at me.

"Yondu wants to talk to you." I nod and Yondu comes in after Stakar opens the door for him.

"Hey, Gramps..." He shuts the door behind him and locks it. "Um... What's up?" I look between the two of them and neither of them was happy.

"Ah ain't yer Cap'n no more."

"Right... Are you just now realizing this?" I chuckle kinda nervously and he smirks a bit at me.

"So... Ah ain't got no right ta keep ya in line no more."

"Um... OK...? What's this about?"

"You've gotten out of line, Rogue. Yondu just hadn't told me about how he kept you in line on his ship. Until earlier."

"Well, Pops, Gramps has always been the weird one when it came to me," I chuckle nervously and Stakar grabs a belt from the dresser, making me tense slightly. "Oh... That's why that was brought up... Y'know... That's seriously not necessary," I try and Stakat crosses his arms over his chest, just glaring at me. "And you don't agree with that..." 

"Girl, ya know tha' gittin' a whoopin' ya earned 'as a'ways been part 'a yer life," Yondu scoffs and I cross my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, well, I'm getting the sinking feeling that Stakar wants to take that belt to my ass because I had Kree spyware technology in my skull when I didn't even know it was there." 

"Part of it, yeah." I wave my hand slightly at Stakar as a 'see?' motion and Yondu rolls his eyes.

"Tha' ain't a good reason ta whoop 'er, Stakar."

"And why not?"

"Cuz she ain't know 'bout it. Ya can't whoop 'er fer somethin' she ain't know nothin' 'bout," He explains with another eye roll and I sit on the bed, rubbing my face. "An' she 'as already been through 'nough fer one solar cycle."

"I second that," I add in and let out a huff of a laugh when they both glare at me. "No, listen. At four in the morning, Indri and I saw our parents get shot by the Kree while he was being kidnapped by them. That's traumatizing, even at my age. Bound to be worse for Indri... And this family sucks at emotions. Unless it's hiding them until we're alone in the dark and it's impossible to hide anymore. Or maybe that's just me... Why am I still talking?"

"Tha's wha' we wanna know," Yondu scoffs and Stakar looks at me.

"I'm just gonna... Shut up about that..." I rub my face slightly and they watch me. "Well... Not that this hasn't been amazing... I've got to figure out puzzles from my insane family on where my inherited life source is. Yay," I say sarcastically and go to do that, which they allow me to do.

The rest of my family and the Avengers were watching data from the spyware on a holoscreen and Indri was sitting on the couch, clearly shocked. "Shooketh," Peter mutters and I watch from my perspective as I kick the ass of an older female Centaurian before sending my arrow through her throat.

"That was my first fight... Once Tressit knew I was good at it, he kept lining them up..."

"Was this before or after you stopped trying to escape?" Drax asks carefully and I brace my hands on the back of the couch, looking at the holoscreen as I think.

"After. Does it have audio?" Rocket nods and I think back to before the fight. "'They took too long getting you your first fight. You're bound to be weak so they started you off with someone just as weak, if not weaker.' Assholes... Between that and their damned mantra of 'fight, kill, win' I wanted to whistle my arrow through _my_ skull..." I look at Indri and he was avoiding my gaze. "What's with you?" I try to touch his head and he avoids my hand, looking at me with some fear in his eyes.

"You killed her... She looked like Gramps but you still killed her... For no reason..."

"I was there when it happened. I'm well aware of what I did and who she looked like." He glares at me and I look at him calmly, hands back on the back of the couch. "This was after I was told everyone was dead, Indri. Everybody's names, faces, and memories got shoved into a deep, dark pit in my soul."

"Why did you kill her? How many people did you kill?"

"That's a good question. The first annual cycle I had about four hundred eighty fights, give or take. After that... Let's see... Went from ten fights every seven solar cycles to fourteen every seven solar cycles... Fifty-six, give or take, every lunar cycle... So, about six hundred seventy-two for the other six annual cycles... About five thousand one hundred eighty-four fights. Probably more, if I'm being honest."

"And you killed someone in each fight? Why do you sound proud for doing it?" He yells and I look at him calmly.

"No, I didn't kill my opponent in each fight. Not at first..."

"Why'd you stop then?" He crosses his arms and I sigh softly, leaning forward on my arms.

"If I didn't kill them, the Kree who claimed to be their 'owners'," I make finger quotes as I say owner with one hand. "Would let Tressit deal with them. He would torture them relentlessly for solar cycles before killing them. In front of me. My second fight. It was against a, um... A Xandarian that was about my age. Tressit had allowed me to kill him, but I didn't because he had a kid that was a slave to the Kree." I glance at the holoscreen and motion toward it slightly. "That's what he did to him."

The Xandarian was chained up and getting beaten, whipped, cut, and other torturous things repeatedly. "Tressit kept that up for fourteen solar cycles. Making sure to tell both of us it was my fault that was happening. I let... One thousand two hundred ninety-six people live only for Tressit to torture and kill them. While broadcasting all of it to all of the other cells. Opponents begged for me to kill them so they wouldn't have to go through that. An arrow through the throat leads to a little while of pain and fear, but it was better than being left to the mercy of Tressit. So, any of the other opponents, I killed them to keep them from suffering a long and painful death."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Indri scoffs and I look at him.

"Bold of you to assume I sleep even with that logic. Now, not that this conversation hasn't been great, I've got a puzzle to solve. If you guys haven't already." No one responds and I go down the stairs behind the hidden door, seeing Yondu and Stakar standing by the stairs from upstairs as I grab the flashlight. I sigh softly and look at all of the information. I find some pages that have what I think are clues and riddles, looking at them in confusion.

"Why? Just... Why?" I grab the pages with the clues and riddles and take them upstairs, needing to translate them so I can read them off to the others. I grab the notebook from earlier and write out the corresponding letters in English from the language that was on the papers. 


	7. Chapter 7

"So... What do they say?" Peter asks and I look at him.

"It says a bunch of letters. That I might not even be translating correctly."

"Ya could a'ways use one 'a 'em visors, girl."

"Why didn't I think of that?" I roll my eyes and look at the letters some more. "I don't have my visor. The Kree destroyed it. They destroyed most of my stuff. Other than my weapons. Which they took for themselves." I arrange the letters the same way they were originally and softly read them aloud. "'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?' Why does that sound familiar?" I chew on the end of the pen a bit as I think and freeze slightly when I remember.

"The Maurder's Map. That's why it sounds familiar. One point to geeks that wished they could go to that school," I smirk and go over to find the book it's from, picking it up from the floor by the bookshelf. "Alright..." I thumb through it and find another clue in the other language. "Seriously?" I rub my face and take a deep breath to stay calm, looking at Yondu. "You got one of those visors?"

"'Ere, kid." Kraglin tosses me one and I attach it where it needs to go, setting up the brain waves part quickly.

"'Preciate it, dude." I activate it and look at the clue. "'What can be played but isn't a board game, has keys but no locks, has hammers but no nails, has pedals but isn't a bicycle, and can be tuned but isn't a radio? When you figure it out, look with the hammers.'" I murmur and think, tapping my finger against the open book. "Played with keys, hammers, and pedals that can be tuned... Piano." I go over to the piano and lift the lid of it, looking around the hammers and underside of the lid for anything.

"What's that?" Indri points to something and I look where he was pointing.

"Coordinates and a note. 'Raziah, this is your life source. Keep it protected and, with some help, you can take it with you.' Wait, seriously? Cool..." I put the coordinates into my wrist com and look at it, entering them again.

"What?"

"It's saying it's here... On Terra..."

"That makes sense, Rogue. But, if the Kree are aware of that, where are they?" Indri looks at me and I deactivate my visor.

"How about we don't wait around to find out?" He nods and I set up a path to get me to the life source. "At least it's close." I shrug and follow the path, Indri walking by my side while we talk. "It's time you learned our secret code for when you need to drop to the ground. And make sure the Avengers and Morgan know it, too." He nods and looks at me.

I pause at the edge of the frozen water behind the cabin and have Indri stay there. "I doubt the ice is sturdy enough to hold two people. So, hold onto my stuff for me, alright?" He nods and I take off my jacket, gloves, boots, and weapon holsters, leaving my arrow on me.

"You want to take your long sleeve off too?" He scoffs and I think about it.

"That's a good idea." I do that and he rolls his eyes as I give him my visor too.

"I was being sarcastic, Rogue."

"OK. And?" I look at the wrist com and he notices.

"It's a newer model that lasts for a while in the water. It'll be fine if you fall in." I nod and continue to follow the path across the frozen water. "Don't fall in!" I flip him off and compare my location to where the life source is, looking around. "What?"

"It's supposed to be here! So, I guess that it's in the water!" He looks at me and I pop my knuckles slightly.

"Do you know how to swim?" Loki calls and I look at him, confused as to when he and the other Avengers got there.

"Yeah... Why?" He doesn't respond and Thor throws his hammer at my feet when Loki motions for him to do so.

The ice cracks beneath my feet and I nod slightly, annoyed. The ice gives and I'm plunged into icy waters. I emerge to the surface and tread water, shaking my head slightly.

"Loki, remind me to kick your fucking ass!"

"Duly noted! However, I suggest finding your life source first," He calls and I glare at him, taking a deep breath before diving back into the icy waters to find the life source.

I swim to the bottom of the water and use some of the vegetation there to help me stay down while I search for the life source, lungs burning after a little while. I make the vegetation shrivel up enough to let me go and emerge from the surface, gasping for a few moments to catch my breath before diving in again, determined to find it before the Kree got there.

I surface every two minutes or so and the crowd at the edge of the water grows while my body temperature lowers from being in the glacial water. I descend into the water again and continue to search the bottom for my life source, focused on finding it.

I see something glowing from inside of a chest and swim over to it, rolling my eyes slightly. _Seriously, Mom? Sunken treasure? Gods..._ I open the chest and pull out a _jar of dirt_? I hold the jar and see the glowing object, pulling out a closed compass. I hold onto both and swim to the surface, slipping the compass into my pocket as I do.

"Hello, 22-3-16," A Kree says as two more pull me out of the hole in the ice and I see that the crowd was being detained by other Kree soldiers. They take me over and throw me to my knees in front of the crowd, keeping me there with a sword to the back of my neck. "We had to bring all of our armies, civilians turned into army soldiers, and royalty here to find all of you. Do you know why that is?"

"Because you finally realized we're bigger and badder than you are?" I grit my teeth against the pain that explodes across my shoulders at that statement and a Kree royalty smirks from where they had Yondu in the same position as me, minus the pain but with a gag. Kraglin, Morgan, and Indri were being held with blasters to their heads and I glance at the three of them, before settling on Yondu again. "Hey, Gramps. Quick question. You trust me?" He looks at me like I was crazy and I grin my version of his knife smirk at him before he barely nods.

"Don't ignore me, slave 22-3-16." The pain explodes across my shoulders again and I growl slightly.

"Of course. You're right. I should give you all of the attention you deserve. Every last one of you. But, first. I have one request."

"Never let it be said that I am an unreasonable owner. What is your request?" I make eye contact with Yondu then Kraglin, then Morgan, and finally Indri, and holding it with him.

"Don't hurt my family," They do as we're supposed to, dropping to the ground, and I whistle sharply to have my arrow slice through Yondu's gag, rolling away from the Kree. "Indri!" He slides me my blaster and I go over to him quickly, blasting the Kree next to him. "Eat blaster, you Kree son of a bitch!" I guard Indri with my body and blast Kree, whistling others as I attach my visor again. Yondu whistles some and Kraglin stabs some while the rest were blasting them, the Avengers using their abilities to their advantage.

"Rogue! Get Morgan somewhere safe!" Pepper yells and I grab Indri, running over to where Morgan was hiding after she ran. She lets me pick her up and I run into the woods a bit, blasting any Kree that followed me. I set them on the ground and give Indri a spare blaster and Morgan the compass.

"Keep that safe and keep each other safe." I hug both of them and twist my wrists, tree branches coming down to surround them before carrying them to the treetops where they couldn't be seen easily due to the darkness that an early sunset brought on. I run back to the fight and whistle to get a Kree off of Natasha.

"Thanks." I help her up and she starts to say something when I feel electricity erupt at the base of my skull, yelling in pain. The pain turns to anger when it keeps going and I grab the electric stick from the Kree, using it on them as a club, bludgeoning them to death easily. I snap off an icicle from a nearby tree branch and throw it through another Kree's eye before whistling them dead. I whistle to go check on the kids and they're fine so I continue fighting, keeping my arrow by the kids.

I see someone sneak into the woods and follow them quickly and quietly. They shapeshift into me and tell the kids to blast a hole in the ball of branches so they can toss the life source down. I kill the Skrull and climb a tree, using my arrow to help end the fight while using my blaster on any Kree or Skrull that comes this way.

Once Kraglin sends me a message that it was over, I get the kids down and go to the battlefield, seeing a small group of people left alive. I go over and one of them was Kree royalty, one was the leader of the army, and the third was a Skrull. "Whose idea was it to destroy Jay Feltch's life source?" They say nothing and I take the compass from Morgan, looking it over a bit. "I'm going to give you until the count of ten to tell me what I want to know. If you don't... Well," I use my new fighting staff to tilt up the Kree royalty's chin to look at me and smirk coldly. "Let's just say Tressit taught me a few things on how to make someone suffer. And I will enjoy it. Every. Single. Second," I snarl and he spits at me.

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." None of them say anything and I slam the end of the staff into the faces of the Kree, looking at the Skrull. "I'll give you one chance and one only. Your answer will choose how you die, quick or slow. Were you part of the scheme to destroy my life source and did you help destroy Jay's?"

"No and no," They growl and I look at them while Pepper takes the kids away from the bodies and blood.

"Kraglin?" He comes over and looks down at the Skrull.

"You're going to have a slave kill me?" They scoff and I slam the end of the staff into their mouth, shutting them up. Kraglin blasts them between the eyes and they fall to the ground, green blood staining the snow beneath them.

Pain explodes in my foot and I look to see that the Kree army leader had stabbed me in the foot with the knife he stole from me. I pull it out and look at him. "Thanks for giving me my knife back." I stab him in the throat and pull my knife out, letting him fall to the ground to bleed out as I look at the Kree royalty. "Last chance to have a quick death, jackass. Whose idea what is to destroy Jay's life source?"

"Mine. We were wasting too many resources to get the two of you back just to kill you. So, we... How do you say it? Cut out the middle man, yes?" He smirks at me and laughs.

"I see." I grab the collar of his clothes and throw him into a tree, causing it to splinter and crack around his body. I pop my knuckles and look at him as he struggles to his feet, walking over to him. He pulls out my katana and swings it at me, his form terrible. I block it with my staff and send it flying into the air, catching it while pointing the staff at him. "What? Was swordsmanship not a class for you, asshole?" He attacks me and I trip him as I move to the side, taking the Saya from his side before slipping my katana back in it. I toss it to Kraglin and he catches it.

"Die!" The Kree tries to stab me and I sidestep while he turns the blade to stab me in the shoulder, smirking as he lets go of the blade.

"That's not a fair fight, now is it?" I hit him across the back with the staff and move to the side, tossing the staff to Drax while taking the knife out of my shoulder. "You guys are invested in using my stuff to kill me, aren't you?" I toss the knife behind me and look at the Kree as he stands.

"I told you what you wanted to know. Why haven't you killed me?"

"Oh, well. If we had written up a contract, the fine print would have read that the offer is voided if you were the one that destroyed his life source, thus meaning I can do whatever the fuck I please when it comes to your untimely demise."

"What?"

"You killed him, the offer of dying quickly is gone, and I get to do what I want to kill you. Life's a bitch, ain't it?" I smirk and he lunges at me, knocking us both to the ground. "Oh, that's adorable." I flip him over my head so he lands hard on his back before I roll into a crouch and watch him try to catch his breath, watching the rapid fall and rise of his chest, his fingers twitching.

He gets up and growls at me. "You are a slave! You have no right to do this!"

"Wrong." He comes at me and I sweep his legs easily, watching as he falls into the snow again. He swipes snow into my face and knocks me into the snow, pressing a blade to my throat.

"Today is the day you die, Slave 22-3-16."

"Wrong again," I smirk and take the blade as I flip us so I'm pinning him to the ground with the knife to his throat. "I'm not dying today. And my name isn't a number. And, last but not least, I ain't a slave. Have fun wherever the Hell you're going and I hope it isn't pleasant." I shove his head back and stab him through the throat, maintaining eye contact as the life slowly drains from his.

I take my knife out of his throat and wipe the blood off on his clothes before twirling it around my fingers, looking it over as I stand. "Rogue!" Indri runs over to me and I kneel to catch him in a hug, barely managing to keep us upright. I hold him out in front of me and look him over, patting him gently.

"You alright, kid?" He nods and I nod back a bit. "Good, good."

"Are you OK? Your shoulder's bleeding..." I look at my left shoulder and it was bleeding kinda badly, pain starting to come in since the adrenaline was wearing off.

"Oh. See, I forgot that even happened," I scoff and he looks at me, simply pressing his fingers against it. I grab his wrist and move it away from my shoulder, teeth grit against the pain that he brought on. "Y'know, there's this chemical reaction in my body called adrenaline and when that's pumping, I don't feel pain. And it's wearing off, so I remember that I got stabbed in the shoulder. Didn't need you to press against it, you little shit."

"Then don't be an idiot." He shrugs and I glare at him, hitting him on the side of the head.

"Smartass isn't a good look on you, kid." I stand and he shrugs one shoulder, handing me my boots. "What? Did you use my boots as weapons? Hold them by the laces and spin them around?" I scoff and he looks at me.

"Yes."

"Oh. OK, then." I chuckle and pull them onto my feet, lacing them up quickly.

"You're gonna get sick if you don't change your clothes," He says simply and I roll my eyes, looking at him as I finish lacing my left boot.

"Last I knew, my mother was dead. You gonna become her now?" I smirk and lace up my right boot when he just glares at me.

"You're an idiot."

"Guess I did get something from Dad other than his stubborn streak, then."

"Guess so." He rolls his eyes and I stand, dusting my pants off.

"You got my stuff? Cuz, I gave it to you to hold onto. And if you don't have it, I'll kick your ass."

"I'm, like... Twenty years younger than you! You can't kick my ass!"

"Says who? Kraglin kicked my ass when I was your age. So, I can kick yours. For teaching methods, of course. And I'm twenty-five years older than you. Where's my stuff, Indri?" He grabs my stuff from behind a tree and throws them at me. "Ah, yes. Tantrums. Gather up what didn't make it to me and give them here." He glares at me but does as I say and hands my stuff to me. I ruffle his hair and take it, holding the shirt and jacket over my arm.

"Your arm's still bleeding." I press my hand against my shoulder and it comes back bloody.

"Very good observation. C'mon." I nudge him toward the cabin and we walk side by side back.

"Where we going?"

"Hell in a handbasket."

"Seriously?"

"Well, I mean..." He hits me in the leg and I laugh. "I need to be able to clean my stab wound up so that I can bandage it up and I need dry clothes. And to figure out how to take this 'with me', kid." I toss the compass slightly and look at it.

"Hey, question."

"Shoot."

"What's the best way to make you look like an idiot?"

"Not gonna answer that cuz then it'd make me an idiot."

"Damn." I roll my eyes and go to get changed into some dry clothes, taking the stairs two at a time. "I'll ask Gramps and Kraglin," He calls after me and I just shut the bathroom door, going to take a shower too so I can warm up.


	8. Chapter 8

I come downstairs as I put bandages on my shoulder, my jacket across my arm again, and hear the starting chords of _Hamilton_. "Ohhh. See, that ain't gonna make me look like an idiot. It's gonna make me look like I'm obsessed. There's a difference," I scoff and Indri shrugs slightly, smirking at me. "You ever heard the music?" He nods and I smile, shouldering my jacket carefully over my tank top. "How well do you know the lyrics?" He shrugs slightly and I grin, nodding a bit. "Uh-huh... I see..." I lean against the back of the couch behind him and watch the musical on the TV.

"So...?"

"So... What?"

"When are you gonna start being stupid with this?" He looks at me and I roll my eyes, vaulting myself over the back of the couch to plop next to him.

"How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll go along with one full song if you do it with me."

"Hm..." He narrows his eyes at me and I grin, waiting for him to answer. "Fine. What song?"

"Let's see..." I count them out on my fingers and grin. "The fifth one."

"What's the fifth one?"

"You'll see. I'll be the first one to start when it comes up. And you can't do the ensemble, which is the one where everyone's singing together. That isn't a part, it's numerous parts."

"OK." He shrugs and I chill while we wait for the song to come up.

It starts and he looks at me. "You've gotta be kidding."

"Nope." I grin and wink at him, clearing my throat slightly as I stand. " _There’s nothing rich folks love more,_ _Than going downtown and slummin’ it with the poor._ _They pull up in their carriages and gawk a_ _t the students in the common,_ _Just to watch them talk._ _Take Philip Schuyler: the man is loaded._ _Uh-oh, but little does he know that_ _His daughters, Peggy, Angelica, Eliza,_ _Sneak into the city just to watch all the guys at—"_

"You're an idiot and I hate you."

"Completely OK with that, dude." 

_"Angelica,"_ He sings while glaring at me and I grin, laughing. _"Angelica!"_

"This is going to be glorious."

"I hate you. _Daddy doesn't need to know... But- look around, look around, the revolution's happening in New York... Work!"_ He snaps as he sings that and I start laughing as I walk around the living room.

_"New ideas in the air. Look around, look around,"_

_"She's looking for me!"_ I lean over the back of the couch and he shoves my head away.

_"Eliza I'm looking for a mind at work. I'm looking for a mind at work! I'm looking for a mind at work! Whooaaa! Whooaaa! Work!"_

"Ooh, harsh," I hold my hand over my heart in mock offense and he rolls his eyes while I walk around the couch. _"Whoo! There's nothing like summer in the city. Someone in a rush next to someone looking pretty. Excuse me, miss, I know it's not funny, but your perfume smells like your Daddy's got money. Why you slumming in the city in your fancy heels. You searching for an urchin who can give you ideals?"_

_"Burr, you disgust me."_

_"Ah, so you've discussed me? I'm a trust fund, baby, you can trust me!"_ I can't even get the words out properly because I can't stop laughing and Indri starts laughing too.

_"I've been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine. So men say that I'm intense or I'm insane. You want a revolution? I want revelation. So listen to my declaration: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal' And when I met Thomas Jefferson, I'm 'a compel him to include women in the sequel! Work!"_ He snaps as he sings 'work' again and I laugh more, leaning on the back of the couch.

_"History is happening in Manhattan and we just happen to be in the greatest city in the world! In the greatest city in the world!"_ He sings along with Angelica's parts in the chaos that follows and I watch, thoroughly enjoying this.

The song ends and I clap, chuckling. "Bravo! You are, by far, the sassiest Angelica I have ever met!" He launches himself over the couch and knocks us both onto the floor. "Kid, you come up to my knees, my hip max. This just is not a fair fight." I roll us so I'm pinning him before I stand and help him to his feet. "Not a bad attack, though. Needs some work." I ruffle his hair and he glares at me before leaving.

"This is kinda your fault, though, kid! You're the one that agreed," I call after him and he flips me off, making me smile a bit. "Yeah, yeah. OK." I take the compass out of my pocket and turn it over in my hand, running my thumb across it. I activate my visor when I feel something carved into it and look at the words. "'Look within to understand what is within this compass?' What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you need to look within yourself before you can get whatever you need from that," Strange says simply and I look at him, raising an eyebrow at that. "You need to sit somewhere and do nothing to understand yourself then you can get what you need from that."

"Oh, yeah. I can do that. Super easy." I sit on the floor in front of the couch and do nothing for about two minutes. "Nothing's happening."

"It's going to take time."

"Time that we might not have, by the way." He rubs his face and takes a deep breath.

"Alright, fair point. Then, let's try to get this done as quickly as possible." He stands, coming over to me and I notice that the musical had been turned off. He guides me into sitting with my legs crossed and my back straight. "Sit like this and have your hands in your lap, pressing the compass between your palms." I notice Indri come in out of the corner of my eye and he sits in a chair where he could see me. "Close your eyes, empty your mind, and focus on your breathing."

"Namaste," I mutter sarcastically and he rolls his eyes while I close mine, breathing slowly.

"Use this time to run your fingers over the compass and get familiar with the feel of it." I do that and feel very stupid doing all of this.

"OK, this is stupid and going nowhere."

"It's been ten minutes," Loki says drily.

"Exactly! Ten minutes is too long to have to work on this thing! I inherited the damned thing! Why can't it just do some damned magic mumbo jumbo and presto! I have the damned life source in me?"

"No. You just hate that you have to be alone with your thoughts to get it to work because you know that you're a terrible person and have numerous reasons to feel guilty for everything you've ever done in your entire life," Indri says simply and harshly causing everyone looks at him in shock.

"Damn," I breathe and look at the compass, visor still on. "'Playing the piano and, maybe, your violin might help, my sweet baby Razi,'" I murmur under my breath and rub my face slightly, standing. "Stark, I need a violin." He procures a case from under the stairs and I look at him.

"I had one made up when we found out about you learning how to play when you were younger," He says awkwardly and I nod slightly, taking it.

"Uh-huh... Thanks..." I lift the cover of the piano keys out of the way and slide my fingers along all of them to test them, the same way Keiko would. I deactivate my visor as I sit on the piano bench and set the violin case next to me, looking at the keys. I close my eyes and think back on all of the trips we'd take up here when she had the time, one time in particular.

"You put your fingers on the keys and just start playing what the sheet tells you to play," I murmur and look at the sheet that was on the little stand above the keys, seeing the song that was there. I carefully wipe off the grime from the lamented sheet music and rest my fingers on the keys. "It would be less painful to stab me through the heart," I mutter and take a deep breath, using my other hand to put the chain on the compass around my neck.

"What are you doing?"

"Praying to any of the Gods that this works, Aleta." I think back on that trip and ghost my fingers over the first few keys, pressing them to make sure they sound right. "Yay," I say sarcastically and take a deep breath again.

I start playing the song and it goes OK. _"Almost there, my sweet baby Razi. Just have to do one last part of the puzzle. Sing,"_ Mom's voice says in my head and I play for a few more moments.

_"I know my sister like I know my own mind... You will never find anyone as trusting or as kind... I love my sister more than anything in this life... I will choose her happiness over mine, every time... Congratulations... For the rest of your life... Every sacrifice you make is for my sister... Give her the best life... Congratulations,"_ I end the song and the compass was burning hot on my skin. I take it off and hold it in my hand, opening it.

A vibrant mix of blue and green light comes out of the compass and floats in front of me while I stare at it. It speeds toward me and connects with my chest. The room seems to spin around me as a burning sensation starts at my chest and spreads throughout the rest of my body.

When it stops, I pant slightly and Lumes was in front of me, looking me over. "I'm fine... You wanna back up a bit?" She hands me some water and motions for me to drink it. "Fine." I drink the water quickly and wipe the back of my hand across my mouth. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic. Your shoulder wound's fully healed and so is your leg. Looks like the absorbing of your life source healed it." She takes the brace off.

"So now she can't die?" Indri asks and I roll my eyes slightly.

"That's correct."

"Yipee," I mutter under my breath and Lumes glances at me while I stand up. The compass had been disintegrated and I felt like I could sleep for ten days straight. "I'm going to go pass out for a little bit. Just... Someone get me when the food's done." I go to lay down in the truck, knowing people would leave me alone if I did, and rest my head against the headrest of the driver's seat, trying to sleep.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I jolt awake and rub my face when Clint knocks on the window. He opens the passenger door and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Food's done." I nod and get out of the truck, heading inside to the kitchen as I stretch.

"Ya git any sleep, kid?" Kraglin elbows my arm and I rub my neck, having a crick in it.

"Some, yeah." I roll my head on my shoulders and ease the pain a bit, rubbing it again.

"Wha's the matta with yer neck?" Yondu raises an eyebrow at me and I lean against the wall a bit.

"Little sore from the way I slept. It'll fade soon enough." He nods a bit and May looks at me. "What'd you make?"

"Pepper, the cooks on your crews, and I made the stuff in your recipe box," She hands me the recipes they used and I look through them a bit. "Your mother must've loved cooking."

"No clue. Barely remember her. And Dad couldn't give me much info about her since he only knew her for a week. You made pies?"

"Yeah... What happened to your mother?"

"The Skrull decided playing crash 'em up derby with me in the car would be fun. She died and I died too, then came back and tried to get her to wake up while in the morgue. That's also the reason that everyone in this town hated me from ages three to ten. Gotta love idiots," I scoff and look through the recipes some more, not noticing Indri staring at me.

"You know that thing that the Kree put in your head?" I raise an eyebrow at him and motion for him to continue slightly, giving May back the recipes. "Did you know it also managed to record your dreams?"

"Dreams are brain waves and inside of my head, not outside. How the Hell did they do that?"

"No clue. But it was interesting to see them. You have some weird dreams. What's with the one where you're running through an empty building? And why were you whistling while you were asleep?"

"I do that sometimes. It's weird, I know. And dreams are weird too."

"That didn't answer my question."

"I don't know, kid. I don't try to analyze my dreams because I don't care about what they mean or what's up with them. They happen, I wake up, and it's done. The dreams don't haunt me while I'm awake and I go on with my life."

"Very nice speech." He rolls his eyes and I pinch the bridge of my nose, silently asking the Gods for patience as I drop my hand.

"OK. What is your problem with me? You've known me for about three solar cycles and you seem to hate me. So, what's your issue with me, kid?" He doesn't respond and I nod slowly. "Alright. Good talk." I look him over and toss him his coat. "Get that on. We're taking a walk."

"What? Why?"

"Because we need to talk. Let's go." He rolls his eyes as he gets his coat on and I motion for him to leave the kitchen.

"You should eat first," May tries and I grin slightly.

"We will when we get back."

"Where are you going?" I don't answer that and head out with Indri, walking with him.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see. We'll be there in five minutes or so." I lead him through the woods and keep him close to me.

We emerge from the woods at the graveyard and I lead him to Mom's gravestone, crouching next to it. He stands next to me and I gently pull him to be kneeling. "Hey!"

"Shh. Just show some respect." He rolls his eyes and I gently dust off the gravestone. "Hey, Mom. Decided to bring my little brother with me to visit you again since my last visit got cut short. I, um," I clear my throat and Indri looks at me. "I... I wasn't able to give you much info about what had happened before my last visit and more has happened since then." I take a deep breath and rub my face, sighing.

"You probably already know, but... Dad's gone... Gamora, too... And, um... And Jay," I clear my throat around the lump in it and Indri looks at me still. "Because of the Kree... Who are also the reason I hadn't come to visit in so long... So... Um... Yeah..." I sniffle a bit and rub my face again. "Anyway... This is Indri... He's my younger brother... Dad and Gamora's son... He ain't too bad so far..." He was watching me and I smile at him a bit. "I try to remember that flower that Xandarians use to talk to their family, but it doesn't usually work that way. So... I just talk to her..." I rub the back of my neck and he nods a bit.

"Um... It's nice to meet you, I guess... If Mom and Dad are wherever you are... Could you tell them that we're gonna be OK? But that Rogue's an idiot and a jerk and a killer?"

"Alright, come on, man. Not cool." I stand and he does too. "Let's just go..." He heads back to the cabin and I look at the gravestone. "I've done some really bad things, Momma... Things I'm not proud of... But it was to keep me alive... And be able to find anyone that might have been alive if I ever got away... And I'm sorry... I know you've looked over me from wherever you are since I was three... But, please... Stop after right now... Because I made a promise and I intend to keep it... I love you, Momma..." I look at the sky and go to catch up with Indri.

"You can come out from wherever you're hiding now, Sparkles," I call and Martinex slides down the tree he was hiding in, landing next to me.

"You alright, Rogue?" We look at Indri who was ahead of us and I rub my face, dealing with a lot of different emotions right now. I don't respond and walk next to him, Indri waiting for us at the end of the woods.

"Where did you come from, Uncle M?" He ruffles his hair and gently pushes him toward the cabin.

"May's gonna be worried about you not having eaten yet, kid."

"Yeah, OK." He heads inside and we follow. I sit on the steps and rest my elbows on my knees, folding my hands to rest my forehead against them as I close my eyes.

"Rogue, are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine, Mantis."

"OK... Would you like to dance?"

"No. I don't. You should go eat before everyone else eats all of the food." She walks away and I lean back slightly as I rub my face by sliding my hands down it. I look around the room slightly to see that no one else was around and stand, going to the kitchen.

"Want a drink?" Rocket offers me a bottle of beer and I look at it for a moment before I take it, gloves in my pocket. "Need an opener?" I take the cap off with my teeth and throw it away, vaguely noticing everyone looking at me for that.

"Y'know, a picture will last longer." I take a swig of the beer and lean against the wall, taking a small piece of ham to eat that so no one complained that I didn't eat.

"Y'know, you should use a fork to eat," Indri says drily and I finish the piece, wiping my fingers on a nearby napkin.

"Y'know, you should not be a little asshat to me before I lose my temper and kick your tiny ass." He glares at me and finishes his food, dealing with his plate as he thanks May, Pepper, and the cooks for the food. He tries to walk past me and I catch him by the back of his clothes, pulling him back toward me as he chokes slightly.

"Seriously? What do you want?"

"What's your problem with me, Indri? You seemed to like me before you found out what I did while the Kree had me as a slave. What is your issue?"


	9. Chapter 9

"My issue?"

"Yeah. What do you have against me that you're being such a little prick to me?"

"Mom and Dad told me stories about you and they painted you as if you were this awesome person. Now that I've met you... You're just a broken and terrible person." He stares at me and walks past me while everyone is silent.

"A broken and terrible person, huh?" I scoff and he turns to look at me, nodding. "Y'know what? You're probably right about that. So... How about this?"

"What?" I suddenly grab him by the front of his shirt and slam him against the wall, feet way off the floor so we can be eye level.

"How about you try being hated for being part of something you couldn't control. How about you try being beaten by random people. How about you try being sold to slavers for a crate of space liquor! By your grandparents! How about you try feeling like your entire world is falling apart around you and you can't do a damn thing to stop it.

"How about you try being broken down every solar cycle for seven annual cycles until you're an empty shell of whoever you might have been before that. How about you try having someone you just met that you swore to protect act like you're the worst person they've ever met because of your past. How about you try having to deal with what I have going on in my fucking head all hours of a solar cycle for a few of them and see what I have to deal with. How about you watch what the fuck you say before I lose my damned temper," I snarl in his face and drop him to the floor, walking out the back door.

I walk around the backyard and occasionally take swigs of the beer, pissed off at myself. "Great job of showing him you're not a terrible person, Rogue. Real fucking smooth. Fucking dumbass. Gods," I mutter and stop walking as I finish my beer, tossing the bottle slightly to catch the neck of it. I toss the bottle more to switch how I'm holding it and do that a few times before I set it on the porch step.

"Are you done trying to be edgy now?" Peter asks and I don't respond, going back to walking the backyard. "Alright then. I tried. Indri! Your turn," He calls as he goes back inside and I continue to walk around the backyard, hands folded on the back of my neck.

I get hit in the back of the head with a snowball and turn to look at Indri, seeing him smirking. "Seriously?"

"What're you gonna do about it?" He opens his arms out and I roll my eyes. He throws another snowball at me and I dodge it.

"Indri, I'm not in the mood." He looks at me and forms another snowball, throwing it at me, which I also dodge.

"Think of this as an apology, Rogue. I shouldn't have said that stuff. I'm sorry." I look at him and he grins sheepishly at me. "I didn't know anything you went through and I shouldn't have just assumed about why you did anything that you did. I'm sorry..."

"Come here, you idiot." I go down on one knee and he comes over to me. I look him over and run my hand over his hair. "You've got Gamora's skin color, Dad's hair color, and his annoying demeanor, but in a different way. You might not like me all the time, but we're still blood. We might not be family yet, but we are blood. I know I'm not Dad or 'Mora..."

"Cuz you definitely aren't," He scoffs and I lightly hit him in the head. "Shutting up."

"I know I'm not Dad or 'Mora... But, I'm gonna keep you safe, kid. Even if it kills me. And even if it means I have to give myself over to somebody I don't want to, to make sure that you stay safe. Even if it means that you think I'm a horrible person with no morals or anything good to keep you safe. Indri... You know that the Kree that we dealt with today wasn't their entire population, right?"

"Yeah. I know that there are still more of them out there. Why?"

"They aren't going to rest until I'm their slave again, I'm dead, or they've killed everyone I care about. Or all of them. You get that, right?"

"No, I don't! What about the people that didn't do anything?"

"They knew about it and didn't try to stop it. That's just as bad, if not worse."

"How is it any better than being a thief for a living?" He glares at me and I rub my face slightly.

"Indri... The Kree are a race that believes if you aren't one of them, you're beneath them and can be used as a slave, any kind of slave. Nearly every family on Hala has a slave. And the ones who don't, have been shunned by the Kree and had to flee the planet because they fought against it. Or they were killed."

"So all of them deserve to die for some idiots believing in that crap?" He yells and I sigh softly, trying to figure out a way to explain it. "How are you being any better than them by killing them?"

"Indri... Please..."

"No! How are you any better than them if you do this?"

"If I don't, they'll keep coming after you! They'll keep coming after anyone who was freed from them in the Ravagers! They'll keep coming after the people that saved them! Do you know who that includes?"

"No..."

"It includes Stakar, Aleta, Charlie, Martinex, Krugarr, Mainframe, Kraglin, and Yondu! They are going to pass on the hatred for us to their children and they will hunt us down! They will do anything to get us! I am not going to allow them to hurt anyone else I care about! Not anymore! Not anymore," I whisper and look at him, unable to hide the hurt and fear. "Please, Indri... I can't watch anyone else die... Especially when I care about them... I can't... First, it was Pops... Then Dad and 'Mora... Then... Then Jay... I... I can't, Indri... Please... Just... Just try to understand... Please..."

"OK... OK, I'll try, Rogue..."

"Thank you..." I rest my forehead against his forehead and he hugs me. I tense for a moment before hugging him back and holding him close. "I'm gonna keep you safe... I promise..."

"I know... I'm sorry about all the crap I've given you... But, Mom and Dad always said not to kill people unless there wasn't another way. Same with stealing and any of the other stuff that you do," He explains lamely and I let him go when he pulls back, looking at him.

"Yeah. Try to hold onto that sense of good, kid. But don't let it blind you or become a weakness for people to exploit. Got it?" He nods and I pat his face gently, nodding slightly as I stand. "Good. Now," I look him over and see he was wearing the Guardians uniform. "That ain't gonna fly on my ship, kid." I motion at his clothes and he looks at them then back up at me, eyebrows furrowed. "The Guardians are joining my crew so they're getting my leathers. Which means you are too," I explain shortly and shove him slightly by the head toward the porch. "Inside. I need another drink."

"You shouldn't drink too much, Rogue," He says as we go inside and I roll my eyes.

"And there's where you and Dad are too similar. I am grown and I know my limits when it comes to drinking. So mind your own damned business, yeah?" He nods a bit and I pour myself a glass of whiskey. The kitchen was fairly empty, everything cleaned up, and the only people in the room with me were Indri, Yondu, Kraglin, and Rocket. "Want some?"

"Naw." Rocket shakes his head and I set the bottle on the table, straddling a chair as I sit. Lumes comes in and sits next to Yondu. "Ya want a glass, Darlin'?" She shakes her head and I sip on my glass while Senso sits next to Kraglin, also turning down a glass.

"I thought it wasn't fun to drink alone when you're around people?" Indri looks at me and I shrug one shoulder, drinking as I think about that.

"It ain't, boy. Yer sista jus' ain't a'ight up 'ere," Yondu taps his head and I roll my eyes, not responding to that.

"Drinking alone can be boring, yeah. Sometimes, it isn't. Other times, you just don't give a damn."

"Is this one of those other times?"

"Congratulations. You've started to understand me, kid." I ruffle his hair and he rolls his eyes while I sip my drink, a small grin playing on my lips.

"Why's this one of those other times? Who would you usually drink with?" He asks and I roll my glass between my palms as I think about that.

"Hm... These two idiots, the Ogords, the other Captains in our misfit family, the other Guardians, Dad... And Jay." The room was silent and I finish my drink, pouring myself another one.

"Sorry..."

"It's cool, kid." He looked like he felt bad and I rub the back of my neck, trying to figure out a way to get rid of that look on his face. "Hey, you wanna hear about some of the stupid shit I did?" He shrugs and I take a sip from my glass, thinking quickly. "Alright... Um... Oh! Dad ever tell you about the time I stole his ship?"

"Yeah."

"OK... Hm... He ever tell you about the time I broke into-"

"Yondu's quarters? Yeah."

"Huh, OK. Um... Hm... I know I did more stupid shit than that so give me a second."

"Sure." He rolls his eyes slightly and I take a sip of my drink, tapping my finger against the glass as I watch him.

"What about his stealing?"

"Rocket told me when Mom and Dad went out for a date."

"Damn! Um... How it took them two years to get married after the stealing?" He nods and I sip from my glass, thinking. "The time I saved his ass from a Skrull?"

"He said that you just yelled at him to pay attention, but yeah."

"Still counts cuz I also blasted the Skrull before it killed him," I smirk slightly and he rolls his eyes.

"He also said that you have always been insane when it comes to fighting and killing."

"Hey, that's a good thing when it comes down to living or dying."

"And what if the person you're fighting has a family? What if you kill somebody's husband and father, or wife and mother?" He asks and I pause in taking a drink, lowering it to look at him.

"I stopped wondering about what-ifs a long time ago. If you don't, you can't move past it and you can't continue living. Morals are overrated. Everyone thinks the same way when they're in a life-or-death fight and will fight to live. If I find out that you're in a fight like that and you didn't try to survive, I'll kick your fucking ass. Got it?"

"Yeah... Got it." I hear something outside and finish my drink, setting the empty glass down as I stand up. "What are you doing?" I put a finger to my lips and stride over to the door, opening it.

_"Move the others,"_ A voice says in my head and I'm confused.

"Guys, move. Now." They look at me like I'm crazy and I glare at them. "Now," I growl and they move as I hear something charging up. Something big. "Oh boy..." I go outside and activate my visor, seeing a cloaked Skrull ship with their blaster aimed right at me as I move away from the cabin slightly. "Shit."

They fire the blaster and I throw myself over the porch railing, the porch getting destroyed. "What the Hell was that?" Martinex yells from a window on the second floor and I look at him slightly.

"Get everyone to the ships! The Avengers too! Make sure they have whatever they need but move quickly!" He looks at me in shock and doesn't move. "Now, T'Naga," I bark and he nods, quickly doing as he was told. The ship uncloaks itself and I look at it, moving to put myself between the ship and the cabin.

"Slave 22-3-16. It has been a while."

"I could meet you a lifetime from now and it would be too brief of a break from you." They look offended and I look at the door behind me slightly. "Hey, your ship seems to be having issues." They turn to look at it and I pull myself into the house again, slamming the door for a little bit of time to get some weapons while I hear blasters charging up.

"Rogue! What's happening?" Indri asks as he comes over to me and I crouch down, using my body as a shield for him.

The door explodes and I get hit by the debris, looking up to see Steve with his shield. "Indri, go to Steve and don't leave his side. Steve, keep him safe or I will kill you." He nods and they run out of the kitchen. I grab my blasters and point them at the open doorway while I go to the living room.

"Why are you still in the damned cabin?" I glare at Martinex and he points out the window where another Skrull ship was waiting. "OK... Alright... Um... I hate the Skrull too... Bunch of fucking assholes... OK..." I think and keep glancing between the front door and the door to the kitchen. "OK... Indri, you know how to fire a blaster?"

"No!"

"Oh. Well. Time to learn." I hand him the blaster and guide his hand around it quickly. "Point, breathe then fire. It's nearly impossible to miss your target. So, don't fire unless no one else is in your way. And don't drop this." I grab a shotgun from underneath the couch and load it quickly.

"What are you doing?"

"No clue. Alright... Go into the hidden room, it has a door. Open it and go through it. Don't know where it goes but it should lead somewhere that isn't here."

"What about you?" Indri looks at me and I look at him, cocking the shotgun.

"I'm gonna keep them busy."

"Shouldn't you have some help for that?"

"Probably. But I'm not going to. I'll be fine. Go." He nods a bit and they all go into the hidden room. I put the bookshelf back up and push it back in place once they're all through it, putting the butt of the shotgun on my shoulder. "Let's go, you sorry sons of bitches! Time to fucking die," I bellow and they come in, blasters pointed at me with other weapons too as I move to the center of the room. They close in on me and charge their blasters up, preparing to fire.

"Goodbye, slave 22-3-16," One says and they all fire. 

I activate my boots and fly up quickly, their blaster fire hitting each other. "Well, that worked really well in my favor." I land and leave the cabin. I shoot the ships in the engine holds and fly upward quickly as they explode, leaving the cabin badly damaged. "Damn..." I land away from the ships and run toward the fleet of Ravager ships, not sure if any other Skrull ships are lurking or if more are coming.

My lungs start to burn from the cold air but I keep running and hear something through the trees, pausing to listen and catch my breath. I move silently toward it and Indri slams into my legs. "Rogue!" He hugs me and I look him over.

"Indri? Are you OK? Where's Steve and the others? Where's the blaster I gave you? Are you alright? What's wrong?" I crouch down to be eye level with him and he stabs me in the chest, eyes flashing yellow. "You bastard," I growl and scratch his face with my nails, blood coming out green on his green skin. The others burst through the trees and I see the real Indri.

"Kill him, Rogue! He stabbed Kraglin!" He yells and I throw the Skrull to the ground as it shifts to look like Keiko. I level the shotgun at their head and fire, blowing their brains out.

"Asshat," I mutter and look at Indri, who was staring at my chest.

"You gonna get that knife out of your chest?" Tony asks and I remember that the Skrull stabbed me.

"Right. Yeah." I grab the handle and yank it out of my chest quickly, gritting my teeth slightly against the pain.

"Um, that was in your heart," Bruce says awkwardly and I shrug one shoulder, going over to Indri to look him over.

"You good?"

"Yeah. You?" I give him a thumbs up and listen for a moment before nodding a tiny bit.

"Let's go. We're getting off of this planet."

"What about everyone else here? Won't the Skrulls go after them?"

"Nope. Cuz they're gonna chase after us."

"We're gonna be cloaked. How's that gonna work?"

"Very carefully, that's how. We still land the ships in that clearing?" Stakar nods and I look at Rocket. "The _Milano_ get moved there?" He nods and I think quickly, lightly tapping the blade against my thigh. "OK... That should work... Yeah... Alright, Indri."

"Yeah?"

"You're going with the Avengers, the rest of the Guardians, and Nebula onto my ship."

"Where are you going to go?"

"You'll know that soon enough. Don't make me have to throw you on the ship, kid. Go." He looks at me and hugs me tightly.

"Be careful..." I pat his head and he looks up at me.

"Those Skrulls are the ones that should be careful. I've got this, kid. It'll take more than a few Skrull ships to make me worried." I wink at him and he smiles a bit, going with the people I told him to go with.

"You have a stupid plan, don't you?" Martinex asks and I make sure I have my weapons.

"Yup."

"You're going to distract them in the _Milano_ so we can get away, aren't you?"

"One hundred percent."

"You know they might blow the ship up, right?"

"Well aware of that."

"And you're still going to do this stupid plan, aren't you?"

"Absolutely," I smirk at him and he wasn't ecstatic about it, neither was anyone else. "Catch you on the flip side." I wink and run onboard the _Milano_ , locking it up behind me so no one else could get on. "Let's show these Federalists who they're up against," I mutter and power the ship up, taking off. I start up the radar and see at least twenty Skrull ships. "That's a bit more than I thought... Oh boy..." I contact the main ship and wait, patching in the Ravager ships too so they know where I'll be if it goes bad.

_"What?"_

"This is Captain Rogue Quill Obfonteri Udonta. If you want me, Skrull, come get me. I'll be in the Prithivi system. I'll meet you there." I cloak the ship and leave the planet, ending the transmission. "Southern mother fucking Democratic-Republicans..." I breathe slowly and set a course for that system.


	10. Chapter 10

I go through a jump and land in the Prithivi system as I charge up the blaster, the Skrull right behind me. "Let's see what ya got, _Milano_ ," I mutter and start firing at the Skrull. There are a lot more of them than me so they surround me and I take evasive maneuvers to avoid getting shot down.

A lot of other ships come to help me and I breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the Gods." I fire on some of the Skrull ships while they fire on others and then I get a clear look at what ships they are. "Oh, Gods no..." I quickly pull up a transmission with the rest of my family and they destroy the rest of the Skrull ships while I flee.

_"What's the problem, Captain?"_ I look at the screen and see that they were all on the transmission with the Avengers, nodding a bit.

"So... Um... Maybe don't come to the Prithivi system..."

_"Why?"_

"Sovereign, gold people, territory. And, um, they're trying to kill me. Fun! So, uh... Yeah... Shit!" I have to do a barrel roll to avoid a ship coming at me and they collide with another one that's on my ass. "HA! Take that, you golden prisses!" I laugh and blast another ship that's in front of me.

_"Why are they trying to kill you? I mean, I get trying to kill Mom, Dad, Yondu, Kraglin, and the other Guardians... But, why you?"_

_"Yeah, why you, Rogue?"_ Martinex stares at me through the transmission and I make a sound to convey how uncomfortable I am with this conversation, doing evasive maneuvers to avoid ships and blasting others.

_"Sparkles knows, but Ah don'?"_ Yondu barks and I chuckle, slightly nervous about this conversation.

"Alright. Remember that job we did on Xandar after Dad's wedding?" They nod and I nod back. "Cool, cool... So... Um... Rocket and I went on a job after that... To steal batteries... From the Sovereign... So... Yeah... And Sparkles had to come to save our sorry asses... Cuz the ship we used wasn't working very well... Excuse me, for a second..." I get up and leave the ship on autopilot for a moment, going to the blaster station. "Eat blaster fire, snobs!" I use the blaster and take out a few more of their ships before I go back to the pilot's seat, setting a course quickly.

A ship slams into the side of the _Milano_ and I grunt slightly as I get knocked out of the seat, not strapped in. "You wanna fucking play, asshats? Let's fucking play!" I get up and pilot through a cluster of their ships, destroying them. "And that's a fucking strike! Eat shit and die, bitches!" I laugh before a group of them slam into my side and knock out one of the thrusters, almost knocking me out of the seat again. "Really? Stop fucking my ship up, asshats!" I blast them and get another group slammed into the other side, knocking out the other thruster. "Damnit! You mother fucking filthy ass damned cunt buckets," I bellow and take a few more of their ships down as I plummet toward their planet. "Damnit!" I put up the shields quickly.

_"What's happening, Rogue?"_

"Everything's fine, Indri. It's all under control. All good."

_"You're a fucking liar!"_

"And I'm also influencing you to cuss. Dope." I see the ground coming up quickly and nod a bit. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm about to crash. So," I smirk slightly and give them a thumbs-up before I crash into the ground, getting knocked out of the seat. "Fuck!" My back hits the wall and I grunt.

_"Rogue? Are you OK?"_ I stand and go over to the pilot's seat, leaning against it a bit as I give them a thumbs-up.

"Neck doesn't hurt anymore... Damn..." I look at the damage done to the ship and grimace. "This is gonna be difficult to fix... OK..." I clear my throat slightly and hear someone trying to hack into the ship to be able to board, hand going to the blaster on my hip automatically. "So... The ship's out of commission... And I'm stuck on Sovereign... Where they want to kill me... Let's go!" I laugh and the hatch opens to let a group of Sovereign on board.

"Rogue Udonta."

"Xenophobes. Been a while. How are you?" We're pointing blasters at each other and I'm smirking while the leader boards. "Ayesha. Still want to kill me?"

"Very much so."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"You are stranded on our planet and will be killed. It is too bad. For you," She smirks at me and I tilt my head slightly at her.

"I thought fighting was beneath you, Ayesha? Or am I just one of the special circumstances? If so, I am honored. But, sadly, I have to decline."

"You do not have the choice."

"Says you."

"Because I am right, thief."

"You noticed? I am touched! Thank you for noticing!" I smirk and she glares at me.

"Kill her." I whistle sharply and my arrow goes through their skulls, hovering in front of Ayesha's eye to go through her skull.

"Well... There went plan A. Do you have a plan B or...?" She pulls out a blaster and I look at it, slightly impressed. "I'm gonna have to take that from you after I kill you. That's a nice blaster. Where'd you get it?"

"It was made specifically for me. It is nice, isn't it?"

"It is a lovely blaster. Quite magnificent."

"Yes. Yes, it is." She smiles, distracted, and I blast her in the leg, making her fall to the floor with a scream while the blaster slides over to me.

"Why thank you!" I pick it up and look it over, testing it out. "This is just for show. That's disappointing." I throw it off of the ship then push her off and put my blasters back where they go, pushing the other Sovereign off of the ship too. "You might want to put some ice on that," I wince at her leg and shut the door, looking at the floor. "Man! Now I gotta clean up blood and brain matter from the floor! Damnit," I sigh and go back over to the pilot's seat, noticing that the transmission is still going.

_"Are you always that sarcastic?"_ Lumes asks and I nod a bit while the others nod.

"Basically, yeah. Probably for coping reasons. Also, what's the plan right now?"

_"Wha'cha mean, kid?"_

"Am I supposed to find a way to make my thrusters work again or are one of you gonna come give me a lift before I get killed?"

_"We're coming to get you, Rogue,"_ Mainframe says and I nod.

"Dope. I gotta go clean the floor now, though." I go to do that, not caring about the transmission right now, and get the cleaning supplies, taking my jacket off to lay it over the back of the pilot's seat. I turn some music on my wrist com, which Indri had shown me to do, and put the earpieces in as I clean the floor.

I start singing along with the song softly as I clean and dance, the dance matching the tone of the song, which was seductive.

\----------

Unbeknownst to me, Indri talks Rocket into hacking into the cameras to change the camera that was giving the video feed to the transmission so they can see what I was doing and watch me dance and clean the floor. All of my family and the Avengers. Nebula left to deal with the crew and didn't want to be any part of that scheme.

\----------

I pause the music and look at a message from Mainframe, heading back up to Controls as I put the headphones back. I see the video that's transmitting to the others is where I was cleaning and furrow my eyebrows slightly for a moment, a little confused. Then it dawns on me as I pull my jacket on. "Rocket, Indri. Why is the video that's transmitting to you guys where I was cleaning?"

_"Wanted to make sure you didn't get ambushed. Bye!"_ Indri runs off and I switch the feed to the one it's supposed to be on as Mainframe gets me in her tractor beam.

"Rocket, don't let Indri talk you into any more of his dumbass schemes." He nods and I end the transmission as Mainframe drops the _Milano_ onto a clamp so it can get fixed. Her First Mate meets me as I disembark and I look at them as they give me the Ravager Salute, which I reciprocate.

"My name is Skip. I'll take you to my Captain." I follow them to Controls and vaguely notice some people getting started on fixing up the ship.

"Thanks, Skip. Are you alright, Rogue?" Mainframe asks as soon as she sees me and Skip gives her the Ravager Salute, waiting for a moment as Mainframe returns it before leaving.

"All good."

"Good, that's good." She shuts the door to Controls and hits me in the arm.

"What the Hell, Mainframe? What'd you do that for?"

"That was for trying a code on me," She hits me again and moves too quickly for me to avoid or block them. "And that's for being stupid enough to steal from the damned Sovereign! What is wrong with you?"

"A lot?" I try and she glares at me while I put my hands up slightly. "Well, there is a lot wrong with me. I'm just being honest." She rolls her eyes and leads me over to the controls.

"Do you at least have more of a plan now?"

"Not even remotely. It just consisted of getting off the planet and getting the Skrull away so you guys could get off the planet. That worked. So..." I shrug slightly and think, spinning a blade around my hand to help me think.

_"How are you able to do that?"_ Indri asks and I look at him, catching my blade by the handle to point the tip of the blade at him through the transmission.

"How did you get it into your head that it'd be a good idea to hack Dad's ship to spy on me?"

_"You were singing. I thought you might've been dancing too and I wanted to know what that looked like..."_

"Then ask to see videos that Gramps has on that damned holopad of his. Don't be a creep and don't drag Rocket into your schemes, kid."

_"Alright. What's the plan now?"_

"That is a glorious question, that I don't have the answer to yet. Oh... Actually... I have a scheme that might work," I smirk slightly and think a bit more. "Two groups of people want me dead. They aren't just going to let the other kill me. Without them being there, at least... Hm..." I chew my lip slightly as I think and lightly tap the blade against my temple.

_"What? That sounds like a lot of random words that only makes sense to you,"_ A random chick by Peter says and I look at her.

"Who the Hell are you?"

_"Michelle Jones and Spider-Man's girlfriend."_

"Congrats on that. Anyway... What I meant was that we can use the Kree and Sovereign's mutual hatred of... well... Any of us to pit them against each other so that they can kill each other for us. And if that doesn't happen, we can just end them."

_"You talk about killing innocent people way too easily."_

"Where have you been, Megan?"

_"Michelle."_

"Right, that's what I meant. My bad. Where have you been, Michelle?"

_"Same place as you."_

"Then how are you just now aware that I talk about killing people this easily?" She doesn't have a response and I motion at the controls. "You mind, Mainframe?" She swipes me a holoscreen and I compose a message to the Sovereign, being annoyingly obnoxious as I do, deciding to make it a video transmission. Ayesha answers and I smirk.

"Hey, Ayesha. How's your leg? I bet it hurts like fucking Hell. Sucks to be you, huh? Anyway... If you want to try to come and get me, I'll be on Hala. Coordinates are 8K1M.YY67A47+58E698L. See you there, you golden snob," I smirk and end the transmission with a wink, rubbing my hands together. "So... Who's ready to kick some Kree and Sovereign ass?" I grin and my family shakes their heads slightly.

_"Yer an idiot. But, ya git us, Kid."_ The others nod their agreement and Nebula had come back.

_"The crew has your back, Captain. We will... View your twelve."_

"Watch my six, but I get what you meant. Good. Land on Hala, stay cloaked, I'm keeping my wrist com open, and I'll keep an earpiece in to contact you when everything's ready for a massacre."

_"What about Morgan and Indri?"_ Pepper asks and I look at them, thinking.

"Nebula. Put them in my Quarters and stay there with them."

_"Aye, Captain."_ Indri was looking at me and I pop my knuckles.

_"Rogue, be careful this time. Please,"_ Indri says carefully and I look at him as I pull my gloves on.

"You got it, kid. But, I'll have you know, I'm always careful."

_"Which is why you crashed onto the planet Sovereign after they knocked out your thrusters?"_

"Hey, last time I knew, the Prithivi system wasn't Sovereign territory."

_"And how long ago was that?"_

"That's a good question. The answer is, shut up." He rolls his eyes and we go through a few jumps so that we land near Hala. Mainframe's Lead Nav lands us on the planet and I put in my earpiece, noticing Indri was still worried. "Hey, I'll be fine. Even if everything goes bad."

_"And how do you know that?"_

"Because I'm awesome, I've been trained in hand-to-hand combat by Gramps and Krags, I know this planet, and I know how it's set up. The only thing you need to worry about is not breaking my liquor bottles in my Quarters. If you do, I might have to kick your ass. So... Don't do that." I check my knives over to make sure they were still sharp and slide them back into their holsters. "Feels good to have my weapons back where they go. I'm keeping the transmission open," I tap my ear slightly and look at Indri one last time.

_"Don't die..."_

"I'm too stubborn to die. Listen to Nebula." He nods and I smirk slightly. "Cowabunga, dudes," I smirk with a wink and disembark, sliding down the ladder to land planetside. I go through the trees to a fighting ring and whistle loudly and sharply to get their attention. All of the Kree and the battle slaves stop what they're doing to look at me and I smirk. "Honey, I'm home."

"Capture her!" One of them runs at me with an electrical stick and I catch their arms, my feet sliding slightly as they continue to run. I take the electric stick and hit them with it, knocking them unconscious to the ground.

"Any battle slave that attacks me will be rendered incapacitated immediately," I bellow as I look around the crowd and see a Kree that I had killed the slave of. "The Kree and other battle slaves had a nickname for me. Anyone care to share it?"

"Feral," One of the Kree says carefully and I nod. "Because you moved like a feral beast and attacked like one."

"Exactly. Now... I'll give you three seconds to release all of the slaves here and I might let some of you live."

"Attack her!" A big slave comes over and I look at him.

"Hey, big guy, my issue isn't with you. So, move to the side and you will be able to see whoever you haven't seen in however long you haven't seen them." I turn to go around him and he follows, staying in front of me. He punches me in the face and I fly into the ring, hitting the ground hard. "Alright. No more talking, then." I extend the staff and spin it around my hand seamlessly, quickly counting the number of slaves. "Ten on one... Not the fairest fight, but not the unfairest fight, either," I murmur and one of them attack me.

I fight with the battle slaves and knock them all unconscious, spitting blood onto the ground cuz a lot of them got some good hits in. "Deal's off the table, boys. Death is on it, though," I snarl at the Kree and they just level blasters at me. "So courageous." I see the Sovereign's unmanned ships coming and smirk slightly. "Have you met Ayesha yet?"

"Yes, I have." The crowd parts and the high leader of the Kree, also known as Tressit's father, steps through the gap, causing me to freeze. "She is a fair woman. Feral. How are you?" He steps closer and I step back, causing him to smirk. "I see that you do not remember the lessons my son allowed me to teach you. No matter. I will just have to reteach you." He snaps as he points to the ground in front of his feet and I grip the staff tighter, making him glare at me. "You are a slave and you will act as such! Now kneel!"

"Go fuck yourself, Voluptuous." I see Ayesha standing behind him and she moves to stand next to him, leaning on something to stand upright. "And you can go right along with him, Ayesha."

"No. Don't screw with the Sovereign." Voluptuous blasts me in the shoulder and I grunt, putting my hand against it to catch the blood.

"Massacre," I growl and throw the electric stick that is jammed in the active position at Voluptuous before bolting to cover, blaster fire going off around me. I hide behind a thick tree trunk and pant through grit teeth, barely able to move my arm. I look at the tree and touch the trunk gently. "Please work..." I focus on it and the branches move, surging toward the unconscious battle slaves. "Protect them." I step from behind the tree as backup arrives and Ayesha looks at me.

"You are an abomination!"

"And you're a stuck-up bitch," I blast her in the face and she falls to the ground.

"Girl! Ya a'ight?"

"Gonna worry about that later!" We both whistle to deal with some of the Kree that were attacking while also blasting others and I see Voluptuous running away.

"We gonna go after him?" Peter asks and I nod, all of the Kree here dealt with.

"Come on. I know where he's going."

"Where's that and how do you know that?" I lead the way to a building crawling with Kree soldiers and we take them out with some difficulty since we're outnumbered. But having two people with arrows controlled by whistles, three people with robot suits that have military-grade weapons, a robot, a person who can control someone else's emotions, an assassin, and numerous people good with blasters and blades... Yeah, it works in our favor.

The Kree soldiers go down and I look at the building, going up the stairs with my katana in my hand and my arrow at my shoulder. The door was open and we go through it.

Voluptuous was waiting for us and smirks. Numerous Kree soldiers and about sixteen children were also waiting, chained to the walls, ranging in ages of about seven to about one. "Feral, hello again. How is your shoulder?" I spin my katana around my arm seamlessly and walk towards him, pausing when he points a blaster at a kid. "You wouldn't want to lose someone else in your family, would you?" He smirks and I growl wordlessly at him. "I will make you a deal, Feral. If you can defeat all of my soldiers on your own, I will let all of these children go. You may even fix your shoulder first. You have my word."

"Your word means nothing to me."

"Then, I suppose I will just have to kill one child, or turn them into a slave, for each fight you lose if you don't agree to fight them. Because you will be fighting them even if you don't agree. It would quite a shame, however. We spent so much time making sure 33-4-17 would finally have a child with you. Even if he were not here to implant it himself. We were even able to give him sixteen. It was quite a stroke of luck, yes? Eight pregnancies with twins in a row! The Gods truly blessed you, yes? Say hello to your mother, children." They say nothing and look at me then at Voluptuous.

"Our mother is a slave?"

"Oh, that is right... I never told them about that... I was planning on raising them as my own, seeing as how you have killed all of my children."

"You got a point to this, Voluptuous? Or are you just taunting me to delay your death?"

"I will give you the deal one more time. Willingly fight against my soldiers and if you can defeat all of them, even if you lose against a few of them at first, I will not harm your children and they will be free. Do we have a deal?" I look at the kids and can see Jay in all of them, even the girls. "Eight strong male battle slaves and eight beautiful female breeding slaves."

"What's the catch to the deal?"

"You can only use your two small blades and your arrow must go in a box that will not allow you to use it. The rest of your group may hold onto it and any other weapons. Do we have a deal, Feral?" I look at the kids then the soldiers and count them, assessing their strength too. "If you go back on your side of the deal, all of the children will die slowly and painfully. Who do you think taught Tressit the techniques he used on the slaves that you didn't kill yourself?"

"All I have to do is beat all of your soldiers in fights, being allowed to lose once to each of them, be the last person standing, and the kids are let go? And I can fix my shoulder before them, only being allowed to use my two blades?"

"Yes. You have my word."


	11. Chapter 11

"Do we have a deal, Feral? You have two minutes to give me an answer, then you will have ten to fix your shoulder." I take my gloves and jacket off and grit my teeth against the pain in my shoulder.

"You've got a deal, Voluptuous."

"Give any weapons you have other than the two blades to your group, wrist com as well." I give my blasters to Rocket, my blades to Drax, my staff to Groot, and my wrist com, jacket, and gloves to Mantis.

"This is stupid, kid."

"Most things I do are." Voluptuous slides a box over to me and I stop it with my boot.

"Put your arrow in it, close it, and give it to your group. Now." I do that and set it next to them, turning to look at him, only in a tank top, my leather pants, and boots now.

"Happy?" My shoulder had healed and I like that I healed way faster now. He motions to spin and I do, my arms out slightly. "Only got my knives. But, I'm still gonna kill all of your sorry asses." I walk away from the others a few steps and take my knives out easily, spinning them slightly. He snaps and the first soldier attacks me, having his blade instead of a blaster.

I dodge out of the way and move quickly to stab him in the back of the neck. The next one comes immediately and swings at me, fist colliding with my jaw. I stumble a couple of steps and look at them, tightening my grip on the handles of my blades. "Since when do we do love taps? Weak," I smirk and punch them in the face, making them fall to the floor. "You want them dead too?" They knock me to the floor and I plunge my blade in their throat before they can do anything. "Never mind." I see the next one coming and shove the body off of me, rolling to my feet quickly. "Back to back? Not very fair of you. But, what else would you do?"

"Stop talking and fight." They attack me and I plunge my knife in her chest, twisting it.

"Stop being so predictable with your attacks and you might've lived." I shove her off of my knife and the next person knocks me to the floor, my knives going sliding toward the others on my side.

"You are not allowed to use your blades any longer, Feral. They left your hands and are now useless to you," Voluptuous smirks and I growl as I throw the opponent off of me.

"Fine." I roll to my feet and slip into a partial survival mode, wanting to be aware of what was going on. "Bring it," I snarl and they attack me again. I grab them by their clothes and slam them to the floor, using their momentum to help me with that. I place my boot on their neck and twist my heel, snapping their neck to kill them. I turn to look at the other Kree and growl softly, eyes narrowed.

Another Kree gets shoved toward me and they attack after a moment. I fight them, killing them, and throw their dead body into the crowd of Kree.

The next person gets the drop on me and punches me in the face, knocking me onto the floor with a grunt. He kicks me in my stomach three times before Voluptuous snaps and he walks away. "One loss, Feral. Or you can just yield," He suggests with a smirk and I get onto one knee before I push myself back to my feet.

"Not so fast, dickhead. I ain't stopping until they're all dead or I'm dead. And, sorry to break it you, but I ain't dead yet. So, stop talking and let your cunt buckets fight," I growl as I shift into a comfortable fighting stance easily and he smirks, snapping. The guy charges me and I spin away from the attack, keeping my eyes on him. "Gotta try harder than that, asshole."

"Stop talking," He barks and attacks me again. I smirk and dodge his attack again.

"Missed me," I taunt and he lunges at me. I kick him in the face with a Chuck Norris kick and he falls to the floor before I kill him. "Who's next?" The next person comes forward and it was a big guy. "Now it's getting interesting," I smirk and he punches me hard enough to send me stumbling into the group of Kree behind me, who shove me back toward him promptly. "Now we're talking," I laugh and look him over as he stalks me in a circle, moving to keep him in my sights.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" He charges me and I roll out of the way, just barely avoiding him. "Guess not. You're fast for a big guy, though." He charges me again and I avoid him, bobbing and weaving away from his fists. "Wow, you really wanna hit me, don't you?" He swings at me with his right fist before swinging his left when I dodge his right and lands a solid punch to my skull, sending me to the floor before he pins me down with his foot between my shoulders.

Voluptuous snaps and he takes his foot off of my back, letting me up. I get to my knees and the room starts spinning, making me close my eyes. "Do you yield already?" I can hear the smirk in his voice and take a few quick breaths before pushing myself up to my feet, swaying slightly. I put a hand to my head where he hit me and come back with blood. "He is our strongest soldier. Usually one of his hits to the skull would kill. But, you are not a normal battle slave, are you, Feral?"

"I ain't a battle slave," I growl and wipe the blood away from my eyes, the room still spinning slightly. I shake my head slightly and look at the big guy, blinking a few times as I shift into a fighting stance. "Let's go, asshat." Voluptuous snaps and the big guy attacks me again.

I charge him and grab his head, using our combined momentum to fling my little bodyweight over his body as I also twist his head enough to snap his neck. I land in a crouch as his body falls and roll my head on my shoulder, taking a deep breath through my nose and mouth to ground myself as I stand. I wipe the blood away from my eyes again and could feel the wound healing painfully, gritting my teeth against it. "Would you care for a break?" I narrow my eyes at Voluptuous and he snaps, making the Kree who was coming forward step back again.

"I suggest you take this opportunity to drink water and get your bearings," He says simply and I look at him. "I can not have my prime source of entertainment falling over due to exhaustion, now can I?"

"Knew there was some fucked up reason behind that." Rocket hands me a bottle and I look at him. "Thought you were against this?"

"I am. But, asshole over there has a point. Drink that." I take a drink and it burns on the way down.

"What the Hell was that?"

"Liquor."

"Oh, well in that case," I finish the bottle and he hands me one with water. "I think that big guy fractured my skull with that punch. Damn, hurts like Hell."

"You could always quit."

"No, I can't. It's not that easy. He'll find another way to get what he wants. Which is me either dead or as a battle slave again. And he'll probably kill the kids. I can't watch anyone else die, dude... Not when I can stop it..." He nods and I down the water. "Thanks, Rocket."

"Do me a favor, yeah?" I raise an eyebrow at him and he points at one of the bigger guys. "Kick his ass in particular. Don't ask why just do it." I nod and he takes the empty bottles, going back to the others.

"Take ass and kick names, Rogue," Mantis calls and I smile a bit.

"Oh, Feral," I look at Voluptuous and he smirks. "If you continue to lose with every other person you fight, I will start by killing the people you are with. Starting with the Terran that has yellow hair. And, if you do yield, I will kill everyone that is left for you to care about, starting with the Centaurian."

"Like fucking Hell you will, dickhead," I snarl and look at Pepper, seeing she looked startled before I turn to glare at him. "You ain't killing anybody else in my family. I ain't gonna allow it. Go ahead and fucking snap so I can kick their asses already."

"Very well." He snaps and the guy from earlier charges immediately. I watch him and avoid his grasp at the last second, observing how he moves. _They all move similarly. Must be their training. This gives me an advantage. I have different methods because of the different people I trained with and the battle slaves I fought against. Voluptuous either doesn't realize this or he does and is using me to entertain himself because he knows I won't back down. Because my family's lives are on the line. Conniving and manipulative bastard._

The Kree punches me in the side after I dodge him again and I slam my elbow into his back before killing him. My side was screaming now and I look at his fists to see a sort of brass knuckles on them, lips curling into a snarl at seeing that. I use my boot to slide him into the Kree that was charging for me and she trips, landing at my feet. She looks up and I slam my boot into her face, killing her with blunt force trauma.

A ding goes off in my ear from my earpiece that connected to my wrist com and I roll my head on my shoulders to press it against my shoulder. 

_"Hey, sweet girl. A Kree leader called Voluptuous contacted me. They're looking for the life source I inherited from my Momma. They'll be finding it any day now and he suggested I leave a message for you. I just wanna tell you that I love you and to be careful when looking for the Kree that killed me. He also told me that... That they managed to get a pregnancy to go through for you... And that I have kids... There's a holopad in your Quarters for them to watch if you find them... Give them all my last name, please. And... And add Fletch to yours... Please... I love you, Rogue. I'll see you again in the stars. Just... Don't let it be too soon, OK?"_

The video ends while I'm fighting and I clench my jaw, pissed off. I kill the Kree I'm fighting and start to charge for Voluptuous. A huge Kree soldier punches me in the face and sends me flying into my family. Stakar and Charlie catch me and I was seething. "Wha's the matta with ya, Kid?" I ignore Kraglin and charge the huge guy. He swings at me and I duck under his arm, dodging around him toward Voluptuous.

He points the blaster at a kid when I get within tackling distance of him and I freeze, looking at him as anger continues to boil inside of me. "I am going to assume that 33-4-17 took my advice to leave a message for you, yes?" I growl something softly and he raises an eyebrow at me. "What was that, Feral?"

"His name was Jay," I bark and he looks taken aback. "You want to stall being killed by using your soldiers as meat shields? Fine! But, count on this... You will be dead on the floor before I leave this shithole of a planet," I snarl and he watches me, keeping the blaster leveled on the kid.

"That is nice. Now, I suggest that you go back to what you are supposed to be doing before I kill this child." I slam my elbow into the throat of a Kree coming up behind me and turn to kill them, moving away from Voluptuous as I do. "This has become too easy for you and not much fun to watch." He snaps and two Kree soldiers attack me. A growl starts from the back of my throat as I bare my teeth at them, growl growing in volume, and they hesitate long enough for me to get the drop on one of them, knocking her to the floor.

I bury my nails into her throat and rip it out, despite a solid punch to the mouth from her, leaving her to bleed on the floor as I turn toward the other one. He watches me and takes out an electric stick, turning it on. I move off of the body and crouch slightly as I watch him closely. He moves closer and I lunge for him. He dodges out of the way and hits me across the back with the stick. I growl loudly and twist around to grab his arm. He grabs my arm and throws me against a wall, leaving a hole there. I grunt and get up, teeth still bared, before I charge him.

He swings the stick and I slide underneath his arm to behind him, hitting him in the back of what could be like his knees. He falls to his knees and I take the stick the beat him death with it.

Blaster fire goes off and fire explodes in my shoulder, making me drop the stick before I turn to look at Voluptuous. He lowers the blaster and was staring at me calmly. "I recall saying the only weapons you could use were of no use to you." I pant through grit teeth at the pain in my shoulder, the exhaustion starting to set in again, and the anger deep in my soul, which was the only reason I was still fighting. "The offer to yield is still viable, Feral."

I spit blood onto the floor and shift into a comfortable fighting stance, growling at the pain in my shoulder as I raise my fist. "Ain't happening." I bend my four fingers slightly and he snaps before two more Kree soldiers step forward to fight me. My eyes flit between them to watch their movements and one of them lunges for me, landing a hit from their electric stick to my leg as I dodge. I punch them in the face to knock them to the floor and the other one grabs my shoulder, digging their fingers into the blaster wound.

"Does that feel similar to how my sister felt when you ripped her throat out?" He snarls in my ear and I grit my teeth tightly against the pain, swinging my elbow back blindly only to have it caught as he pulls my injured shoulder out of its socket. "We have been watching you fight and have gathered enough data to know how you fight, Slave." The other one gets up and lands a punch to my jaw before Voluptuous snaps.

They both back up while the one holding me throws me to the floor and I catch myself, blood pooling like crazy in my mouth. I push myself to my feet and can't move my right arm, which is the one that I throw a majority of my punches with. "Do you wish to yield?" I shove my shoulder back in its socket and roll it slightly as I turn to look at the two of them.

"Well, Slave?" I spit blood into both of their faces and grin with bloodied teeth.

"Let's fight," I smirk and Voluptuous snaps, leading them both to attack me again. I avoid their attacks and the right one grabs me by the throat. He squeezes and I grab his arm, slamming the heel of my hand into the joint that's kinda his elbow. He drops me and I slam the heel of my hand up into his jaw then into his throat, breaking his breathing part of his throat so that he dies slowly. The other one attacks me and tries to bite my neck, not having any weapons of use.

I grab his head and twist it to snap his neck, letting his body fall to the floor next to the one struggling for breath. I take pity and snap his neck too, looking at the huge guy that Rocket pointed to who was the last person left. "This oughta be good." I wipe a hand across my mouth and look at him. Voluptuous snaps and he attacks, moving quickly. "Well, damn," I scoff and spin out of the way to avoid him.

He grabs my leg and breaks it easily, making me growl loudly through grit teeth. He lets my leg go and watches me as I set it so it can heal. "OK... That's fine," I mutter and shift into a fighting stance while he just watches me like I was an interesting bug that he was trying to understand why it did what it did.

"This is our best Battle Slave turned Soldier. It is such a shame that you never got to fight him in a more... Professional setting. Fight." The guy charges me and I decide to slide between his legs to give myself more time to think of a way to defeat him.

"Bigger they are, harder they fall," I smirk slightly and whistle sharply. He turns to me and I smirk more. "Come at me, you giant oaf!" He charges and I move to behind a small pile of bodies. "Yeah! Come get me, you dumb cunt!" He growls and charges me faster.

He doesn't see the pile and trips, landing on his face. _It's to survive... It's to survive... You have to kill him to survive and save your family... It's for the greater good..._ I slam the heel of my boot into his head and he grabs my ankle, throwing me into a wall. I grunt and clamber to my feet as he charges me again. I roll out of the way quickly and he turns to watch me while I look at him closely. _He looks so damned familiar..._

I hold my hands up slightly at him and he narrows his eyes at me while I start making gestures with my hands, my back to Voluptuous so that he can't see them. "What the Hell is she doing?" Charlie scoffs and I ignore him, looking at the big guy.

_"She is using sign language,"_ Krugarr explains and I do the gestures again.

_'Aren't you tired of fighting?'_ He nods and I nod a bit back. _'If you come with me, you'll be free of him. No more fighting for your life. No more being reminded of being a slave. If you want to come with me, the next attack, punch me in the face. If not, punch me in the stomach. If you punch me in the face, you'll have to go down when I attack you next. If you punch me in the stomach, I have to keep my family safe. Do you understand?"_ He nods again and I barely nod back, shifting into a fighting stance.

He attacks and punches me in the face, knocking me to the floor before he barely backs up. I roll to my feet quickly and attack him, knocking him to the floor before acting as if I killed him. "Stay down and act dead," I whisper and he doesn't move, breathing carefully so his chest doesn't rise or fall much.

I stand and he stays down.


	12. Chapter 12

I wipe the back of my hand across my mouth to gather the blood there and look at Voluptuous, chest heaving as I pant. He claps and releases the kids, pressing a button to open the box my arrow was in. "Go along. You were always going to be slaves. Children of a slave could never be anything more than a slave. Or a thief," He grins coldly at me and I go over to him, stopping when he points a blaster at me. "You know that I can use this well, Feral. Do not tempt me to do so. I will be taking my leave now." He starts to leave only to get captured in Peter's webs and I smirk.

"That wasn't part of our deal, Voluptuous. And I made a promise to the Kree empire as a whole. That you would all pay for killing Jay." I go over to him and pick the blaster up, pointing it at him. "Say hi to your sons for me," I smirk and blast his head off. I whistle my arrow back into its holster and look at the kids still against the wall. "Um... You guys OK?" They nod and I nod a bit back. "Cool, cool... Um... Do you want to come with me, find a Kree that doesn't condone slavery, or be dropped off at an orphanage?"

"There aren't anymore Kree that don't condone slavery. They were all killed publically after Tressit's murder was found to be linked to his location being leaked to them," The oldest girl says as she points to the others and I nod a bit.

"OK... Um... Then I guess your options are me or an orphanage?"

"The orphanages near here would sell us to the Skrull," The oldest boy says and I rub the back of my neck slightly.

"Guess you're stuck with me then, huh?"

"We would be stuck with you no matter where we went. Children of a Kree battle slave."

"No. Children of a Ravager Captain. Got it?" They all nod and I look at them. "You got names?" They shake their heads and I sigh softly, rubbing my face slightly. "We'll worry about that in a bit, I guess... Come on." I motion for them to walk and the oldest two pick up the youngest two, walking toward the others with me following behind them. "Tex, Jaz."

"Yes, Cap'n?"

"Help the big guy out and treat any injuries." The big guy stands up and was about the same size as the two of them.

"You alright, big guy?" He nods and Jaz nods a bit.

"He can't talk. Voluptuous made sure of it. What happened to the others that were unconscious in that mediocre fighting ring?"

"They've been taken to Med, Cap'n," Jaz explains and I nod.

"Good." I go over to the others and look over the kids slightly.

"You have sixteen kids?"

"Not now, Peter." He nods a bit and I pull my jacket on after taking it from Mantis, ignoring the pain radiating across my entire body for the time being. I board my ship with the kids, Avengers, and my crew, Guardians included, while I tuck my gloves into my pocket and put my wrist com back on.

"Rogue," I turn to look at Stakar. "Meeting planet. We all need to talk about this. You, Indri, and those kids." I nod and the Lead Nav sets a course for the planet while I OK something with Nebula. Indri runs out of my quarters and I smile a bit when he hugs me.

"Are you OK? Are you done having to kill people? Did you win? Who are those kids?"

"I'm fine. I won. Hopefully done having to kill people today. That last question will be answered once we land planetside."

"OK..." I pat his head gently and we go through a few jumps to get to the meeting planet. "Morgan and I didn't break anything." I chuckle and ruffle his hair gently while we land planetside.

"Alright. Indri, you guys, come on." I lead them planetside and lean against the building while we wait for Stakar and the other Captains in my dysfunctional family. The rest of the Guardians are waiting with us.

They land and I stand straight, just feeling exhausted after the fights. They disembark, with Lumes and Senso, and Stakar opens the door. "Inside." The kids go in and I follow to make sure they don't get lost, even though I want nothing more than to meet the bottom of a bottle of whiskey. Or three then collapse into my bunk to sleep. I lead them to the Captains meeting room and Stakar stops them.

"You kids wait out here." They all sit in the First Mates chairs and Martinex opens the door to the other room. "You can go in, though."

"Yay," I mutter under my breath and go in, collapsing in my usual chair. "Any chance I can vote for the version of this that doesn't involve yelling?"

"Yes."

"Then I do that."

"It has been denied and ignored," Aleta says simply and I rub my face.

"Of course it has. What is this about exactly?"

"Why do you have sixteen kids?"

"I had eight sets of twins."

"How?"

"The Kree collected... Samples from Jay last time they had him. And they used those samples on me so that I gave birth to kids."

"You've never had a successful pregnancy before."

"Yeah, imagine my shock. Especially today. I thought they were all dead. Nope... Great..." I rub my face and could not deal with this right now, not in the right mental or emotional frame of mind. No one says anything and I breathe deeply for a few moments before sliding my hands down my face, immensely frustrated.

"What happened exactly?"

"I don't know. The doctor they use for the slaves came in and I blocked everything after that out. Next thing I knew, Voluptuous was taking away a pair of infants. A boy and a girl. Then, the doctor was back to fix me up after a fight and the process repeated. After the eighth time, Tressit had me just fight and fixed me up himself, knowing that Voluptuous would have the doctor do whatever they did again."

"How did they manage to make all of them twins?"

"I don't know. How did they manage to put that spyware in my skull?" Lumes nods slightly and I run my tongue over my teeth slightly. "Look, I have no clue how they managed to get eight sets of twins out of me or how they managed to make sure they were successful. The past seven annual cycles are a bit of a blur beside the beginning, the end, and how many fights I had. Which was too damned many. So, forgive me if I seem highly disinterested in this conversation. It's because I am and the fact that I want to meet the bottom of a bottle of whiskey, or ten, then collapse into my bunk to sleep for a lunar cycle."

"You can't do that, though," Charlie points out and I lean back in my chair slightly, resting my ankle on my knee.

"Ya don't say?" I raise an eyebrow at him and he rolls his eyes slightly. "I can at least meet the bottom of _a_ bottle, Charlie. After I name sixteen kids. Lovely..." I roll my shoulder slightly because it's still slightly sore and the others sit while Martinex waits by the door, looking at me. "Is this the end of the conversation?" Stakar nods and Martinex opens the door, letting the kids in.

"It's possible for someone to get pregnant back to back for six years?" Indri asks as soon as he comes in and I shrug one shoulder.

"Must be. Sit down." Indri sits next to me and the other kids hang out by the door. "I ain't gonna bite, so sit down." The oldest two pick up the youngest two and the others sit down, the oldest two standing behind them. "You can put them in a chair and stand or sit with them in your laps." They go with the first option and I look at them, seeing Jay in all of their faces.

"Why don't you have any hair?" The two that look about three ask me and Yondu and he scoffs.

"Cuz Ah ain't neva 'ad any."

"Oh. Why?"

"Cuz tha's the way it went."

"Why?"

"Tha' all ya know 'ow ta say?"

"No. Why don't you?" They look at me and I cross my arms slightly, leaning back in my chair again.

"Cuz I had it made so that it didn't grow anymore."

"Is it because of that thing on your head?"

"Partially."

"Why do you have it?"

"So I can do stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff with an arrow."

"Like what?" I just whistle to show them and they look at my arrow in awe. "Cool!" I whistle it back into my holster and Indri was watching me.

"Where did these kids come from, Rogue?"

"Well, when a man and a woman-"

"I know about that stuff already! Whose kids are they?"

"A man and a woman's."

"But who are the man and woman?"

"People that you know. Look at them closely, kid. You'll figure it out." He glares at me but does look at the oldest two for a little bit before his eyes go wide and he looks at me.

"They kinda look like Jay!"

"Yup."

"And their hair looks like yours in Yondu's pictures!"

"If you say so, kid."

"So... They're your and Jay's kids? How?"

"The Kree like to experiment on people. They got... Samples from Jay and used them on me to get the kids."

"Do they have names?"

"Why don't you ask them, dude? Gods..."

"Do you guys have names?"

"No. She said that she'd worry about that later."

"Now is later," The oldest boy points out and I nod a bit.

"That is an excellent observation. Got any ideas on that?"

"Isn't that the parent's job to name their kids?" The oldest girl snarks and I can feel my temper rising. "Where even is our father? He's bound to be a better parent than you are. Or have been. What type of mother lets her children be taken like that?"

I slam my hands on the table as I stand and she jumps backward while everyone else jumps slightly too, my chair had been flung toward the wall when I stood. "I had no choice on them taking you. They made sure I couldn't fight back. So, before you start talking shit about me, know what the fuck you're talking about! Got it?" I bark and she nods quickly. "Good. Now, names." I look at them all and they look back at me.

"OK." I look at the others and look at Indri, crouching to talk to him.

"It OK if I name two of them after Dad and Gamora?" He looks at me and nods. I ruffle his hair gently and look at the oldest set of twins, which are a boy and girl. "Peter, or Petey, and Gamora." Peter smiles a bit and Gamora just rolls her eyes while I move onto the next set of twins, the second set which is boys. "Jay and Jason." They smile and I onto the third set of twins, which are girls. "Raziah and Keiko."

The fourth set of twins, both boys, are bouncing a bit and I look at them, getting certain vibes from them. "This is gonna be funny," I whisper to Indri and he looks confused. "You two. Yondu and Kraglin."

"Wha'?" They bellow and Indri laughs softly while I smile. I look at Senso and Lumes and they look back at me, a little confused.

"I've got four more girls to name. It OK if I name two of them after you guys?" They look shocked but nod and I give them a thumbs-up, looking at the next set of girl twins. "Senso and Lumes." I look at the sixth set of twins, two boys, and think a bit. "Um... Charlie and... Kruthin." Krugarr looks happy, even though I didn't name the second one after him fully, and I quirk the corner of my mouth up in a smile.

_"The name means 'Starry Sky'. It is a nice touch."_ I nod a bit and he smiles in his way, giving off happy vibes in my head.

"Mainframe, thoughts on a name for a girl?"

"Maiko. It goes with the name Keiko." I nod a bit and look at the seventh set of twins, both girls.

"Maiko and Solstice."

"And the babies?" Gamora asks and I look at the kids then glance at Aleta. Aleta barely nods and I quirk the corner of my mouth up in a smile,

"Stark and Leta."

"And what's our last name?"

"Fletch."

"And what's your name?"

"It's a long one."

"What is it?"

"Captain, Mom, or Mother to you," I smirk and she glares at me.

"Her name's Rogue Quill Obfonteri Udonta Fletch," Indri says and I look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly at the Fletch on the end. "He sent me the video he sent you too... Figured it should get added now."

"Is this a kid that you decided to keep?" Gamora sneers at us and Indri kinda hides behind my legs.

"No. He's my brother. And your uncle. So, watch it." She rolls her eyes and I take a deep breath to keep calm. "His name's Indri."

"Indri Quill," He adds.

"Indri Quill. He's gonna be being raised alongside you guys."

"Can't his parents raise him?" Indri grabs my arm and I wrap it around his shoulders slightly to pull him to my side.

"Y'know, they would-"

"Why aren't they then?"

"Hard to do that when they're dead. The Kree killed them too. They killed your father, who was my husband. They killed his parents, who were my Dad and might as well have been my Mother too. So, if you want to keep talking shit about them, go ahead. We'll just see how well Gramps' methods work on you," I growl and she shuts up. "You're named after his mother. Don't screw it up."

"Where are we going to sleep?" Peter asks and I look at him.

"We're gonna figure that out. You'll have to share a room with two of your siblings until you get older. The same goes for you, Gamora."

"OK. Boys with boys and girls with girls?" I nod and he nods his understanding. "I can group us up if that'll help."

"Go for it. The youngest two will be with me, so no need to worry about that."

"OK. What about Indri?"

"He's gonna have to share a room too." Indri doesn't argue and he nods a bit while I look at the kids, thinking a bit. "Anything else from you guys?"

"Get them leathers and explain the Code," Stakar says simply and I nod. "Indri too."

"Since we're here, might as well get the meeting done," Aleta says and Stakar nods his agreement, messaging all of the Captains to get to the meeting planet. "Take the kids to get their leathers started and come back with Nebula, Rogue."

"You got it, Aleta." Indri stands while Peter and Gamora pick up Stark and Leta and Indri leads them out while I follow. 


	13. Chapter 13

I lead the kids to the Designer's area where Pan was waiting and she looks at me. "Captain." She nods slightly and I nod back. "Do I need to get these guys leathers?" I nod again and she motions them over. "Rin and I will get that done, Captain."

"Good. Thanks. When you guys get your leathers, thank them. Got it?" They nod and I leave, going to get Nebula. 

She was waiting for me on the ramp and we go to the meeting building together while the other Captains were landing. "You know the drill?" She nods and I give her a thumbs-up.

"Hey again, Rogue."

"Sparkles," I smirk slightly and he rolls his eyes as I go toward the door to the Captain's area.

"You and fucking Blue. I swear."

"I know. We're just Gods awful, aren't we?"

"Yes. It's glorious."

"Ain't it?" I smirk and go into the room, sitting in my usual chair while the other Captains file in.

Once everyone's there, we get started on the meeting and I couldn't care less, looking highly disinterested. "Could you at least pretend to care, Terran?" Barkley's replacement asks during his rundown and I look at him in the silent room.

"Oh, I am _so_ sorry. Do I not look interested... Who are you again?"

"Bently."

"Do I not look interested enough in what you're saying, Ben Ten?"

"It's Bently."

"I don't care. Now, can you finish your fucking rundown of the past annual cycle so that the rest of us can do what we need to, or do you want to keep wasting time asking me to pretend to care about what you're saying? Because I'm not the one that needs to care, they are," I motion toward the Ogords and stare at him. "So, stop talking to me and get back to what you were fucking saying. Jackass." He doesn't know how to react and I lean back in my chair. "That wasn't a suggestion."

He continues his rundown and I cross my arms slightly, looking disinterested still but at least listening.

Stakar looks at me when Mainframe's down and I lean forward slightly. "Ship is functional with things getting fixed during the meeting, all new crew is getting their leathers, good crew, no one's dead among them. All I got." I lean back and no one says anything for a moment.

"Missions?"

"Gonna look through some that the Lead Tactician has found after this and should get one lined up for in a... Few solar cycles, give or take." I shrug one shoulder and Stakar just nods before Charlie gives his rundown.

Stakar and Aleta pass out missions and I raise an eyebrow slightly, having a lot of the pussy missions. "Hey, Ben Ten."

"Not my name."

"Whatever. What type of missions you got?"

"None that are too hard."

"Didn't answer my question."

"Since when do you care about that?" Another Captain scoffs and I look at her.

"That's funny, don't remember saying anything to you. I was talking to Ben Ten. Describe the missions." I look back at him and he rolls his eyes.

"Hijacking Nova Corps ships is one of them. Why?"

"How long have you been a Captain?"

"How long haven't you been a Captain?" He shoots back and the room is silent, looking at me while I smirk.

"Nice comeback. How old are you?"

"Younger than you, that's for sure." 

"Obviously. Little bitch." He had no comeback and I look at the missions again.

"At least I don't have the Ogords taking pity on me and giving me pussy missions."

"Oh? Is that how it went down?"

"Yeah."

"See, I thought that these got mixed up. Cuz I ain't no little bitch. Like you seem to be."

"At least I don't have seventeen kids to take care of alongside a ship and crew."

"Yeah, that's because you can't get a woman. Cuz women don't like little boys in their father's leathers. We're gonna get along great, Barkley Jr," I smirk, still looking through the missions, and the room was silent still.

"How'd you know?"

"It's just obvious, bud. What? Daddy didn't love you until you were useful to him? I'm just guessing here, but... Stop me if I'm wrong. You join the Ravagers, get put with Daddy's crew, everyone's oblivious to him being your Daddy, Flint gets kicked as First Mate, you become the replacement, Daddy gets kicked or killed or whatever happened to him, you get his spot, and now you're... What? Following in his footsteps? I don't suggest doing that. Be less of a dickhead. Any questions?" He doesn't respond and I glance at him to see him shake his head slightly. "Good. Anything else, Stakar?" I look at him.

"No. Meeting adjourned."

"Dope. Deuces," I smirk and leave with a peace sign over my shoulder. "Oh, almost forgot," I turn in the open door and smirk at Bently. "If you need a name to call me, I'll accept Mistress." He blushes orange and I wink as I leave with Nebula flanking me. "I love screwing with people." She chuckles and we board the _Shadowblade_.

Indri runs over and smiles at me, dressed in a set of leathers. "Rogue! Check it out! These are so cool!"

"Obviously. And it's Captain. Not Rogue."

"Sorry. But, these are awesome!" I pat his head and get a transmission on my wrist com, answering it.

"What?"

_"Captain, we're almost done with the repairs. But, it'll be a few more hours."_

"Alright. Keep working and get them done."

_"Yes, Cap."_ I end the transmission and look at Indri then the other kids as they come in, nodding slightly as I see they all have their leathers.

"Alright. You guys had a tour yet?" They nod and I nod back. "Got rooms sorted out?"

"Yeah. Indri, me, Jason, and Jay are together. Yondu, Kraglin, Charlie, and Kruthin are together. Gamora, Raziah, Keiko, and Senso are together. Lumes, Maiko, and Solstice are together. And some of the crew got some stuff set up in your quarters for the babies."

"Good. You're all Ravagers now and Ravagers have a code. Rule One, steal from whoever the fuck you want, but don't steal from other Ravagers, your own. Rule Two, no killing on the ship unless it's me or Nebula making an example of somebody. You got a problem with somebody you settle it planetside or in the gym with a fair fight. Rule Three, we steal for a living but we don't deal in slaves or kids. Or treat living and sentient, or thinking, being like cargo. Rule Four, we only go to bot brothels, not that you'll have to worry about that yet. We don't go to brothels with sentient beings because that's another form of slavery. Got it?"

"Yes, Captain," Most of them say, some of them too young to speak, and Gamora just nods.

"Good. Make sure you all have what you need in your quarters and you'll be getting started on working with the teams and personal knowledge." They nod and go to do that. Nebula had left to do other things and I check over everything from Controls to make sure it's running smoothly, which it almost is. I sit in my chair and rest my elbow on the arm of it, leaning my head against my hand as I think.

I get a transmission from Bently and look at it suspiciously then look at the Navs. "Out." They leave and I'm alone in Controls when I shut the doors, answering the transmission. "Yes, Bently?"

_"Rogue. I was wondering, um... If you've got time... Would you wanna go out for a drink or something with me?"_ I look at him and think.

"I'll be lining a mission up for the beginning of the next lunar and annual cycle to give everyone time to get settled. So, sure. In a few hours?"

_"Alright. I'll see you on Contraxia in a few hours."_ I nod and we end the transmission.

"Wait... Wouldn't that be a date?" I furrow my eyebrows slightly and the door opens so I shake my head to get rid of the thought, turning to look toward the door. "You guys are still here?"

"Yeah. All of the bad guys are in jail and the jails are Hulk proof to keep them from escaping," Peter says and I nod a bit.

"Cool. Congrats on that. Quick question."

"Shoot."

"What would you define a date as?" They all look at me, confused and shocked, and I cross my legs, looking at them. "What?"

"Haven't you ever been on a date before?"

"I've fought alongside Jay since I was ten. Does that count?" They shake their heads and I think. "I went on solo missions with Jay sometimes." They shake their heads again and I cross my arms slightly as I think. "Oh. I would meet Atar for drinks whenever we were on Contraxia at the same time."

"That's kind of a date. Did you get food too?"

"No. We got drinks and then went back to his quarters on Charlie-27's ship because he was scared of Gramps." Tony snorts slightly and the women kinda nod.

"Yeah, that's kind of a date. Seems more like a booty call, though," Michelle says and I tilt my head slightly to the side for a moment in agreement. "So, that isn't a real date. You've never been on a date before?"

"Guess not. Cool."

"Why do you ask?" Thor raises an eyebrow at me and I tap my foot slightly for a second.

"Let's say, hypothetically, someone asked if I wanted to get drinks with them sometime. Does that classify as a date?" Pepper looks at me and sees something, holding a hand out to Michelle slightly to shut her up.

"No, not necessarily. They might just want to get to know you over some drinks. As friends. Or allies." I nod a bit and see Vin and Val coming in.

"Cap'n," They give me the Ravager Salute and I stand to reciprocate it, looking at them.

"Got it fixed up?"

"Yes, Cap'n. We're good to go."

"Good. We're making a stop on Contraxia see if anybody wants any bots and I'll pay." They nod and go off to do that while I set a course for Contraxia, taking off from the planet. The Avengers kinda fall over and get up as we go through a few jumps. "You'll get used to it." I land on Contraxia and the crew members that want bots are coming in, remarkably less than what I remember. I give them the units necessary and they leave as I give Pepper units too, noticing they all had leathers too.

"What are these for?"

"You're the most responsible one out of all of these idiots it seems and they're units. For drinks and food if you want them. A lot of the stuff out here is better than on Terra. Enjoy." I grab the pouch of holopads from Controls and disembark with them following me. I point them toward a bar slash restaurant and they look at me. "That place has some good food, alright? Go there." They go that way and I go to a bar, getting a table.

"What can I get for you, Captain?"

"A bottle of Rhone." I give them some units and they nod, coming back with it and a couple of glasses. "Thanks." I pour a glass for myself and look through the holopads as I drink.

"Hello, Rogue," Bently says as he sits down and I put the holopad I was looking through back in the pouch with the others.

"Bently." I pour him a glass and he takes it, nodding slightly in thanks.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Have at it."

"I'm not Barkley's son."

"OK. Explain, then."

"I'm Jay." I pause in drinking and slowly lower my glass, looking at him.

"That isn't funny."

"I'm being serious." I vaguely notice some other crewmembers come in with their Captains and they notice me with Bently. "When Jay died, his soul came to me. It's kind of like reincarnation, but faster," He explains and I clench my hand around my glass, finishing my drink. "So, he's not dead. He's living in me."

I take his drink and throw it in his face as I stand, the bar silent now. "I don't know what type of sick joke you're trying to pull, but it isn't funny. Now, I hope you enjoyed what you got from that glass of Rhone. Have a nice night." I grab the bottle by the neck and leave the bar with it, leaving Bently a few units to buy a drink. I walk around outside and drink from the bottle, going over to the tattoo place.

Trol smiles at me and motions me inside as I step through the door. "Hello, Captain Rogue. Where's Jay?" I don't say anything and he nods a bit. "I see... What tattoos can I get you tonight?"

"Can you give me what Jay had? The ring on a chain?"

"Of course. Have a seat." I sit down and take my jacket off so he can work on it. "Feel free to drink from the bottle as I do because I can't give you anesthesia due to having the alcohol in your system. Just let me know so I can pause."

"Can do." I down half of the bottle and grit my teeth slightly at the burn, putting my arm off to the side of the chair. "OK. Let's get this ink on." He nods and starts putting the tattoo on. I close my eyes and rest my head against the headrest, thinking about Jay.

"There we are, Captain!" He smiles and I open my eyes to look in the mirror that he was holding. "Any other tattoos?" I nod and write out 'Jay Fletch' in English.

"Can you put this around my ring finger?" He nods and I give him my hand before he starts tattooing it on. The bell above the door rings to signal someone coming in and I ignore it, not caring.

"I'll be with you in a moment, Kraglin."

"A'ight, Trol. Who ya got in 'ere wit' ya?"

"Fuck off, Krags," I say simply and he snorts.

"Ah, yes. Family. Always fun to see them interact with each other in my shop. Get your design prepared, Kraglin." He finishes my tattoo and gives me some salve. "Here you are, Captain. Apply and you'll be healed in no time at all."

"Thanks, Trol. See ya 'round." I raise the bottle at him slightly as I leave and take a swig, flipping Kraglin off as I walk through that area. He reciprocates it and I walk out to see Yondu walking toward the shop with the Ogords. I wave the bottle at them slightly in greeting and walk toward my ship. They go past me and I finish the bottle, tossing it in the garbage chute as I board.

"Let's be honest, Jay was a villain," Steve says and I lean against the doorframe to Controls. "Rogue kind of is, too." I notice the bottles at their feet and realize that he was probably drunk, the rest of the Avengers by him with the kids too.

"We're the villains in your storybook, goody two shoes?" He nods and I push myself to a standing position, walking over calmly to ruffle Indri's hair and check over the other kids, Gamora not interested in me.

_"I always wondered why I liked the villains more. And I think it might be because when they get on the floor, down on their knees for her and only her, something in me stirs. A hero would sacrifice her to save the world, showing that they are indeed pure-hearted and honest. But a villain would tear the world apart if she was hurt. That is a promise. They seem selfish, manipulative, and rude to everyone around, but he treats her like a queen, his and only his, sitting beside him on a throne with her crown. I think villains are misjudged and that most of the time we don't get to see their story. For, if we knew it, the hero may not seem so full of glory. Monsters are made, not born. And any soul tortured, confused, and abused, incidentally, would not have time to mourn. So the next time I defend the villain of the tale, remember that they too were once broken and frail,"_ I recite the poem from memory and everyone looks at me.

"That doesn't explain how you aren't villains."

"Who are the heroes?"

"Why does that matter?"

"If your only evidence for us being villains is that I fought to the death with people and killed people to protect my family and my kids, fuck you. And if your only evidence of Jay being a villain is the first time you met him, fuck you again. We got massively fucked up by the Kree when we were with them. If you've got something to say about me, say it to my damned face, not behind my back."

"Do you have any clue how many people you killed today?" He asks in a scoff and I nod. "How many?"

"Sixty-nine. No, seventy-two." He nods and looks at me, surprised I knew. "I don't go around killing people for the Hell of it. I know the number of people I've killed over the years. But, morals aren't good traits for a Ravager to have, Rogers."

"And what's that number?"

"Thousands," I say plainly and Indri looks at me.

"How do you say that like you're talking about anything normal? It's not normal to kill that many people, Rogue! And it isn't right!"

"Indri, calm down, bud," Petey tries and he glares at him.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He doesn't say anything and Indri looks back at me. "You are the only Ravager who has killed that many people!"

"No, I'm not. And I'm not gonna explain this to you again, kid. It was either the Kree dying or having to always be looking over our shoulders because they'd keep coming after us until they had us dead or as slaves."

"Then at least I'd be with Mom and Dad!" He leaves after that and the other kids look at me.

"And we could've been with our father instead of a killing machine and thief of a mother," Gamora says simply and leads the other kids out after yelling at them to go with her. I catch her by her arm and look at her as I crouch to be eye level with her.

"I know you don't like me, but you're going to respect me."

"I have no respect for murderers and mothers who abandon their children." She punches me in the face and I let her go out of shock before she runs off, the other kids too shocked to move as I contact Nebula while I stand.

_"Yes, Captain?"_

"Find Gamora and put her in the Brig for insubordination and punching me. Maybe a couple of solar cycles down there will get her to understand who's in charge."

_"Aye, Captain."_ I end the transmission and look at Petey who says nothing at first.

"She doesn't need to be in the Brig."

"And she doesn't need to go around spewing the crap she does, yet here we are." I look at the time and see it's going toward 2300. "I want all of you in your quarters and your bunks. Now."

"Aye, Captain." He makes sure they all go to their quarters and I look at the Avengers.

"Get to a bunk and find teams to work on in the morning." They nod and do that, Loki hanging around. "Sorry for giving you crap on Terra when I met you. The only opinions I had formed were that you were a piece of shit. Because that's the only side of you that was ever shown. So... Sorry." I rub the back of my neck slightly and he smiles a bit at me.

"Apology accepted. Would you like a drink?"

"Yes. Come on, we can have some from my bar. If you want." He nods and I lead him into my quarters, shutting the door behind us as I turn the lights up slowly so our eyes can adjust. I go over to the bar and look through the bottles, humming softly in thought. "I don't have any Asgardian stuff, but... I have whiskey that got outlawed."

"That will probably match Asgardian drinks."

"Cool." I grab a bottle and two glasses, pouring some for each of us. "Here's to being hated by the Avengers and our families. Cheers," I scoff slightly and he chuckles, clinking glasses with mine before we each take a drink.

"How much did you hate sending your oldest daughter to the Brig?"

"It was way harder than I thought it would be," I chuckle a bit and motion toward the sitting area, sitting in my chair while he sits on a couch, one arm flung over the back of it.

"Would you like help in raising the children?"

"That's what the crew's and family's for," I joke and he smiles. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have help... But, anyone around me just wants my head on a platter, my position, or to make me feel like a fool. Gods, I wish Jay were here... It'd be a lot less to handle alone..." I take a sip of my drink and he watches me as he drinks his.

"How long did it take you and Jay to get together?"

"Twelve years. I didn't know how to bring it up and anytime he'd show any affection toward me, someone in my family would come and beat the crap out of him. That's why I kept my first relationship a secret and that turned out badly for me."

"How so?"

"Atar was an abusive asshole and I couldn't quite bring it up to anyone. Because it was hard to talk about and he was a successful Ravager while I was the granddaughter of a Ravager Captain who would've just been spewing shit to drag him through the mud. Thankfully, he got too jealous and too careless, showing his true colors in public after I turned down his proposal. Then Jay proposed, officially, the next morning..." I look at my glass and feel a tear fall, wiping it away quickly. "Ah, sorry."

"Oh, it is quite alright." He hands me a clean rag and I wipe my face quickly. "Rogue."

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to make this an occurrence that happens often?" I look at him and think about that before nodding.

"Yeah... I would... Thanks..."

"My pleasure, Captain." He finishes his drink and stands, bowing slightly with a smile at me. "Sleep well." I stand and bow slightly back.

"You too." He leaves and I shut the door behind him, finishing my drink as I smile, happy. Like when I first met Jay.


	14. Chapter 14

We stayed on Contraxia for a few solar cycles while the teams got set up and I got the kids to understand who the Hell is in charge, having to throw Gamora in the Brig again with Indri and Steve after we took off. Bucky didn't agree with Steve being in the Brig and landed himself in the same situation as him for swinging at me.

"Anyone else wanna fill up the Brig today or should I start filling Tex's Med bunks?" I barked and no one said anything. "Get your asses to work. Now!" They all went to do their own thing and I rubbed my temples slightly, getting frustrated because it was early and I hadn't fucking eaten anything.

"Captain," I raised my eyes to look toward Loki as he came in and handed me a nutrition bar. "Good morning." I took the bar and tore it open before eating, nodding slightly as thanks. We've been talking every night over whiskey and it's been amazing because talking to him helps me get to sleep easier without an entire bottle of whiskey or pills. He nodded back and left to get to work. I did what I needed to do and got a job lined up for the beginning of the next annual cycle, looking out of a porthole to look at the stars where we had just put Dad and Gamora, right before Indri got thrown into the brig with his niece.

"Gods... Is this karma for the crap I pulled? Was I seriously that bad?" I muttered under my breath and rubbed my face slightly, going back to what I was doing.

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It's been a couple of lunar cycles and Loki knocks on the door to my quarters for our nightly whiskey talk. I open the door and motion for him to come in. He hands me chocolate and a single flower. "My Captain. Happy Valentine's Day." I smile a bit and look at the flower, noticing it's fake. "So that it does not die and you do not have to maintain it."

"Smart."

"Thank you. Am I pouring the whiskey tonight or are you?" I motion to him and he nods, pouring two glasses for us before he hands one to me.

"Thank you, Loki. For the drink, flower, and chocolate. They're great. Want a piece?" I offer him an unwrapped one and he just eats it from my fingers, smirking slightly.

"Mmm. You are quite right. These are delicious." I don't know how to respond so I just take a sip of my whiskey as I sit down and he sits across from me, sitting in his normal position. I carefully rake my eyes over his frame and he smirks. "See something that you like, Dear Captain?" I clear my throat awkwardly and drink my whiskey, blushing a bit. He chuckles and sips his whiskey as well, looking me over in a way that I don't notice as we talk.

"Well, Captain, I shall allow you to get to bed." He sets his glass on the bar and I do too, leading him over to the door. "Good night, Dear Captain." He starts to leave and I bite my lip a bit.

"Hey, Loki," He looks at me and I place a quick peck on his cheek. "Good night," I say quickly, blushing more, and shut the door as he chuckles.

\------------

He smiles and heads to his Quarters that he shares with Thor. The other Avengers were in there talking and look at him as he comes in, a small smile still playing on his lips. "What's making you smile like that, Loki?" He looks at Rhodey and drops the smile.

"I have no clue what you are talking about," He says simply and gets ready to rest for the night, the small smile coming back as he turns his back to them.

"You have never smiled like that, Brother. Is it a woman?" He tenses slightly and Thor laughs. "It is! Who is she? How long have you been pining for her, Brother?" He doesn't respond and gets in his bunk.

"I would like to rest now if that is alright with all of you. The next solar cycle comes early, as you are all aware." They roll their eyes and leave to go to bed themselves.

"Who is she, Brother? I must know!"

"Good night, Brother." Loki turns the light off and ends the conversation there, by ignoring Thor when he continued to pry.

\-----------

The other Captains and First Mates in my family contact me with a transmission while what's left of the Guardians let themselves in with a code only Groot knows as I'm dancing and humming softly, headphones in. Rocket answers the transmission and I turn to see most of my dysfunctional family looking at me as I take my headphones out. "What? I was getting ready to go to sleep."

_"Whose glass is that on the bar?"_ Martinex asks with a smirk and I glance at the bar to see that Loki's glass was still out, silently cursing.

"Mine."

_"What about the other glass?"_

"Also mine. Forgot I poured a glass and poured a second one. Wow, would you look at the time! I should seriously get to sleep. Night!" I try to end the transmission and Mantis touches my bare hand, smiling brightly even as I snatch my hand away. _Damnit._

"Rogue has a crush on someone," She squeals and they all look at me while I'm trying to think of words to say.

_"Yeah? Who is 'e?"_ Kraglin asks and I tap my fingertips against each other slightly, thinking of how to get my voice to work.

_"Or she?"_ Lumes adds from over Yondu's shoulder and Senso pops up from behind Kraglin.

_"Or they?"_ I see that her hair's a mess and she was covered by a sheet with bare shoulders while Kraglin had messy hair and a bare chest.

"Kraglin, did you two just have sex?" He blushes blue and the focus is off of me. _Thank Gods._

_"That isn't the point! You like someone?"_ Mainframe asks and now the focus is back on me. _"Do they conform to a gender? If so, what one is it?"_

"I haven't even confirmed if I like someone or not, yet!"

_"That confirms it. Man?"_ Aleta asks and I just nod, rubbing the back of my neck slightly. _"Someone from Terra?"_ I nod again and Mantis was bouncing up and down while everyone else was watching me. _"The kid you let fall down the stairs?"_

"No! He already has a girlfriend!"

_"OK. The one with the hammer?"_

"Ugh. Too many muscles, not enough brain cells." She snorts at that and I absentmindedly eat a piece of chocolate from Loki.

_"Did one of us give you those?"_ Charlie asks and I, in my everlasting wisdom while uncomfortable, yeet the chocolate behind the bar.

"What are you talking about?"

"Smooth," Rocket snorts and I rub the back of my neck again.

"OK, OK. Hypothetically speaking, OK?" They all nod and I fold my hands at the back of my neck. "If I did like someone, how would I know that they also liked me and how do I tell them that?"

_"How'd you do it with Jay?"_ Stakar asks and I open my mouth to say something before closing it again, thinking.

"I didn't have to. It was obvious and a lot easier to do cuz we grew up around each other. Know what? This is your two's fault, Gramps, Krags."

_"Wha'? How?"_

"You two idiots and Dad would flip shit whenever I was in the vicinity of a male that I was genuinely interested in. So, the only two relationships I have to go off of are one where I grew up around him and one where he was an abusive asshole."

_"Tha' was yer Daddy's doin', kid,"_ Kraglin scoffs and I tilt my head slightly to the side for a moment in slight agreement.

"OK, yeah... Fair enough. Why is this so difficult?"

_"It ain't. Jus' tell 'im."_

"OK. But, what if he doesn't reciprocate the feelings?"

"Yeah, there's a lot not to like about you," Rocket smirks and I kinda glare at him.

"Whatever. Look, I'm tired and this talk has been great, but good night." I end the transmission with a slight bow of my head and kick the others out, locking the door so that only Nebula can get inside in case of an emergency. I finish getting ready to sleep and crawl into bed, passing out for the night.

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I roll out of bed at 0500 and get a shower before going to Mess, noticing Loki and most of the other Avengers eating at the Captain's table, since a majority of them were Leads or Co-Leads. The ones that aren't, leave when they see me coming and most of the leads follow while I get the meal for First Shift along with a drink. I nod slightly in thanks and go to sit in my chair, seeing Loki had left Mess. That hurts for some reason and I'm not sure why as I eat my food.

"Do you think it's the Captain?" There's silence before everyone agrees it's not me and I'm confused. "How are we supposed to figure out who Loki likes?" I'm shocked and hide it behind my cup.

\--------

I had no way of knowing Loki was hearing a similar conversation between the Guardians, Captains, and First Mates as he goes to do his job.

"How are we gonna find out who that kid likes? She has a pretty screwed-up sense of... Well, everything."

"Rogue is bound to give away small hints and clues as we look."

\---------

I finish my food quickly and down my drink, walking out of Mess to find Loki, clueless to the Avengers following me. Loki was walking toward Mess with my family trailing him and we meet outside of the hangar.

"Loki."

"Captain."

"I have a question..."

"Yes?"

"Do you like m... Me... At? Do you like meat?"

"Meat?"

"Yes."

"Yes, I like meat. Is that all you wanted to ask me?"

"Uh... Yup! I, uh... I gotta go now... So, um... Yeah... See you later?"

"Of course, Captain." He bows slightly and I nod my head slightly at that, walking past him and my family, who were all looking at me like I was crazy.

"Actually!" I cringe at how loudly I say that and turn to look at him while my family turns to look at me. "There, uh, there was something else... Um..."

"Yes, Captain?" He waits patiently and I stumble over my words.

"Do you, uh... I mean... Did... Um... What are... How... How do you get your hair so shiny?" _**What?!** Why did I say that?!_

"What?" He looks confused and so does everyone else.

"Uh, yeah... How, um... How... How do you get your hair so shiny?"

"I use a special hair care routine."

"Really?"

"Yes..."

"That... That's, um... That's... That's seriously cool. Uh... Yeah... Good talk." I give him two thumbs-up and walk away, muttering under my breath at myself. "'How do you get your hair so shiny?' What the fuck, Rogue? How are you so bad at this?"

"Captain," He calls before I'm around the corner and I cringe slightly, turning to look at him after making my face neutral. "Are you free tonight?"

"Um..." I think about that and kinda nod. "Yeah..."

"Would you like to go out for a meal with me on the nearby planet? I have been saving units so I could treat you," He says smoothly and I try and fail, to speak a few times before clearing my throat.

"It's a date," I say then realize what I said and quickly backpedal. "Unless it's not supposed to be a date, then it's not a date. It... It's just a meal. Between a Captain and her crewmate. Not a date. Unless it is, then-"

"It's to help us get information for the mission, Captain." He smiles and it makes me happy on the inside as I smile back a bit. "What time would you like to leave?"

"Um... 0000."

"What?"

"Not the time I meant!" I chuckle slightly and Aleta takes pity on me.

"1915. She wants to leave at 1915." He comes over and smiles at me.

"I shall come by your quarters at 1900 then, Captain," He says with a slight bow and kisses my hand before he leaves. "I shall see you then." I smile and give him two thumbs-up again, my voice not working.

"That was painful to watch," Martinex says and I nod my agreement, still kinda smiling. "Probably more painful to be a part of, huh?" I nod again and Charlie waves a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my slight trance. "You OK?" I just give him a thumbs-up and most of the Avengers look at me a bit.

"Captain Rogue.exe has stopped functioning," Peter scoffs and I nod my agreement, just happy right now.

"You guys have got stuff to do. Get to work," I mutter with a wave of my hand and my crew goes to do as I told them while I walk away, wandering the ship now with my family following me, which I don't notice. I hum softly and do anything that needs to be done, going toward the Brig to deal with the idiots in there while I'm in a good mood.

"This is tyranny," Gamora yells and I rub my temples slightly, going over to the cells that she and Indri were in, along with Steve and Bucky. Again. "Tyranny!" I kick the door and she shuts up as she turns to look at me, glaring. "This is fucking tyranny!"

"You got thrown in here for fighting with Leads."

"And what about goody two shoes there?" I look at Steve and Bucky and they were sitting close to each other.

"Honestly, I think they just get thrown in here to be able to make out. Hey," They look at me and I raise an eyebrow. "Why the Hell did you two get thrown in here this time?"

"Drunk fighting with some Leads. Nebula let them out earlier," Steve explains while Bucky rubs his temples and I roll my eyes slightly.

"Why, though?"

"They talked shit about America and wars. How they weren't any different from what you used to do."

"Which they aren't." He rolls his eyes and Bucky hits him.

"Steve, watch it, you idiot. Do you want to get out of here anytime soon?" He doesn't respond and Bucky shakes his head. "Steve started it and I got thrown in here with him for trying to break it up."

"It's easy to understand if you'd get it through your thick damned skulls. No fighting unless you're in the fucking gym! I'm tired of seeing you assholes and you two little shits," I direct at Gamora and Indri, who look insulted. "In here every few solar cycles because you can't fucking get along with anyone else! If you can't fucking start, I'm gonna start kicking your asses myself before I throw you in here then you can all clean the damned hangar from top to bottom! Are we clear?"

"Yes, Captain," They say resignedly and I let the guys out. Gamora starts to leave and I push her back in.

"What the Hell? Let me out!" I shut the door and she grabs the bars, trying to swing at me.

"I will for the next meal. After you've had more time to calm down. So, I suggest, you sit your ass down and shut the fuck up," I bark and she does that while I give her some food. "Enjoy." She eats and I lean against the cell opposite hers, watching her a bit.

"What?"

I start to respond when Indri is dragged back into the Brig by Jaz, who had a cut on his lip, and Indri had blood on his knuckles. "Cap'n," He nods respectfully at me and deposits Indri at my feet.

"What happened?"

"Kid came up an' decked me in m'face. Fer no reason."

"Of course he did." I notice the two of them exchanging small smirks and narrow my eyes at them. "Know what? Today's a slow day." I tap Indri's head and he looks at me. "Congratulations. You've earned yourself a chance to clean the hangar from top to bottom until it's spotless. Get to work."

"Fine. I'll get Petey to help me," He huffs as he walks away and I catch him by the collar of his jacket, pulling him back. "What now?"

"By yourself. And you," I look at Gamora and her eyes snap to me. "The vents haven't been cleaned in Gods only know how long it's been since they have. Congratulations, once you're done with that, you get to clean the vents. Cuz we'll be landing to prepare for our next mission shortly." Indri was still there and I snap my fingers as I point toward the door. "Get to work!" He scurries off and I look at Gamora. "Hurry up. If you work hard, you might even wind up sleeping in your Quarters instead of the Brig."

She finishes her food quickly and I open the door, handing her the tool for cleaning the vents. "Get Thor to help you out." I give her a rundown on how it works and she takes it to get started, Jaz already back to work as we were landing. "Gamora," I call gently and she turns to look at me as I hand her the small blade I usually spin around my fingers. "There might be Orloni's in the vents. Be careful, alright?" She looks at me and nods, taking the blade before she leaves the Brig.

I sigh softly and rub my temples before leaving to help get prepared for the mission, thinking a bit. _Tonight will be fun. My first date ever, but it's not a real date. That's just a cover. Still kinda counts._


	15. Chapter 15

Loki was getting cornered by the Avengers and my family and he wasn't sure how to respond while I was in the Brig with the kids. "Yes?"

"You're using the mission as an excuse to get a date out of the kid?"

"It is not a date. It is a cover to help us get information for the mission, Rocket."

"Is she who you like, Brother?"

"No. I do not like anyone the way you think that I do."

"She likes somebody, though," Aleta says simply and looks at him. "And if you hurt her, they won't find a body."

"Because you will kill me?"

"No. Because she will. And we trained her in the Ravager way," Martinex smirks and Loki nods.

"I am well aware. I am not going to hurt her because I, firstly, do not have an opening to hurt her. And, secondly, I have no desire to hurt her. Now, if you will excuse me. I have a mission to prepare for." He pushes through them and goes to do anything else but be there and explain how he feels about me. "If only it were that easy to explain," He murmurs as he gets an outfit out tonight for his 'date' and goes off to do other things.

\--------------

I check on Gamora and Indri often, making sure they stop to eat something, and they seem less edgy and teenage level moody, both of them thanking me as I give them tips on how to do it more efficiently. I wander the ship a bit and make sure everything's ready for the mission, also going on it.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1845 rolls around and I'm still not ready for the outing with Loki, making sure to stop Indri and Gamora so they can eat another meal. Thor looks at me, confused, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Are you not supposed to be getting ready?" I look at him and he decides to elaborate. "For the meal to get information for the mission?" I furrow my eyebrows slightly before my eyes widen and I facepalm.

"Damnit! I forgot about that! You know what he's wearing so that I know what to base my outfit on?"

"No. I apologize."

"Damn. Alright. Go get something to eat." I go to find Loki and knock on the door to his Quarters.

"Brother, if you are here to pester me, I will turn you into a snake," He says as he opens the door before he sees me and his eyes go comically wide, his chest bare as he's getting changed. "Oh! Captain! I apologize deeply. What can I help you with?"

"What level of fancy do I need to be with clothes tonight?"

"A nice dress. And, if possible, you may need to find a way to cover your implant and head to attract less attention."

"That's a good idea. I'm going to go get ready, then, and find a way to do that." He bows slightly and I leave, sparing a glance at his bare chest again. "Damn," I whisper once I'm around the corner and head to my Quarters, kinda blushing.

Senso, Lumes, Kraglin, and Yondu were waiting for me and I do a doubletake. "Um, can I help you?"

"Naw."

"We're here to help you," Senso smirks and Lumes comes over, settling something on my head to cover everything on it that would attract attention.

"That will hide your implant and tattoos."

"And this," Senso holds out a black dress that went to the floor with sleeves and I look at it. "Will make you blend right in with the crowd where you're going. Go on. Go get changed!" She gently shoves it into my arms and I go upstairs, getting changed quickly. "And put on those shoes up there!" I look at the shoes and scoff, throwing them downstairs.

"Hell no! I don't do heels!" I put my boots back on and slip a couple of blades into them to hide them before going back downstairs, pulling at the neck of the dress slightly to try to move it to be more comfortable.

"That's how low it's supposed to go, Rogue," Senso rolls her eyes and I tap my foot slightly, thinking.

"Know what? Screw this," I mutter as I slice two twin cuts into the sides of the dress and cut off the sleeves to my elbows.

"Segs is gonna kill ya, girl."

"Nah, Segs loves me. And he should know my style by now. Damn, dude." I roll my shoulders slightly to get used to the dress and move it slightly so that the neckline is resting higher. "Who gave him this design?"

"Natasha."

"Of course," I scoff and rub my face slightly, using the scraps of the sleeves to tie the neckline together a bit so that my tits are covered more. "There."

There's a knock on the door and I attach my wrist com as I go over to open it. Loki was waiting and his eyes widen slightly when he sees me but quickly composes himself. "Captain," He bows slightly and I smile.

"Loki."

"Are you ready to gather information for the mission?" He offers his arm to me and I take it as I nod. "Lovely. It will be my treat," He explains as we disembark the ship together and walk toward the restaurant, which was next to the place we were hitting. "It is a nice place, yes?" I nod again and a waiter leads us to a table near the window with a pitcher of water. We order some food and drinks, both of us having an earpiece in so we can talk to the crew about what we can see.

"A lot of people walking by," I comment as I take a sip of my drink, glancing out the window to see the twentieth person go into the building in the past two minutes, and set the glass down. "That's twenty in two minutes."

"Oh, dear. How many have come out?"

"None. Oh, wait, one. One person." Our food comes out and I look at it, loving the smell of it. "That smells good." Loki nods his agreement and we take the earpieces out, putting them in our wrist coms before we eat. It tastes even better and... Words don't even begin to describe the taste. _It tastes as good as Loki looks._

The thought is so sudden that I kinda choke on my drink and cough slightly. "Are you alright?" I nod and clear my throat a bit.

"Just went down the wrong tube," I explain shortly and he nods, looking at me.

\-----------

_She is so gorgeous, even without the wig to hide her implant and tattoos. Especially without the wig. I wish that I could tell her how I feel about her._ Loki looks out the window slightly and clears his throat.

\-----------

I look up and see the target of the job, barely smirking as I take a drink. "Found you, Waldo." Loki chuckles softly at that and the waiter comes over to deal with the empty plates from the meal.

"Dessert?" He looks at the two of us and Loki nods, ordering a slice of something similar to chocolate cake for both of us.

"It will allow us to gather more information, see how long the target is in the building, that type of thing," He explains and I hide a small smile behind my glass.

"If you say so. Let's see..." I tap a few things on my wrist com quickly and find out information on the building next door. "Oh, my. How scandalous?" I show him and his eyebrows raise.

"A bot brothel?" He hisses and I nod slightly, hiding the wrist com when the waiter comes back, giving us a refill.

"From the couples at the bar for the budding new couple, your tab is covered." He smiles and leaves the table after pointing to who paid the tab as we take drinks.

We both kind of choke on our drinks seeing Stakar and Aleta there with Tony and Pepper, all but Pepper giving us shit-eating grins. Pepper smiles gently at us and I just slowly lower the glass to eat the cake-like dessert.

"Does any of this taste... Funny to you?" I ask him and he shakes his head. "Hm... Must be the drinks in my lungs." He chuckles and I smile a bit as I finish the cake, taking a sip of the drink.

We both finish our drinks and put our earpieces back in carefully to not be seen before we leave the restaurant. "What now, Captain?" He whispers and I think, looking around a bit.

"Hm... Down the alley. There's got to be a way to get into the building." He nods and we move through the alley carefully, not wanting to alert anyone to us sneaking around while I activate my visor.

"That is a clever gadget. It brings out the forests that reside in your eyes." I freeze and look at him.

"What?"

"I apologize. I suppose that I... Got too deep into the role we are playing." I nod a bit and continue walking with him, using my visor to see if anyone was around, moving in silence. _The forests that reside in my eyes? That's cheesy as Hell... But in a good way..._ I smile a tiny bit and keep walking alongside him.

We get to the back of the building and see the target moving quickly as he fixes his clothes while I deactivate my visor. We start to follow but two huge guys get in our way and restrain us while the target turns to smirk at us. "Well, hello there." He waves his hand and they cover our heads with sacks, dragging us through alleys after ditching our wrist coms and earpieces. We struggle but they hold us easily and keep us from getting away.

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We land hard in a room and I scramble to my feet as they slam the door, my hands slamming on the door. "Assholes!" I slam my fists against the door again and turn to start pacing while Loki sinks against a wall to sit on the floor. "How are you so calm right now?"

"I have faith that our crew will find us. If pacing assists you in calming down, pace away, Captain."

"I will." I pace and remember something, plopping on the floor to take off my boots.

"Why, Captain, if you wanted to undress, all you had to do was ask for help," He smirks and I roll my eyes, slicing along the sole of it slightly for the tracker to activate the distress beacon. "What are you doing?"

"Distress beacon on a tracker. I'm paranoid."

"It seems as though that might bode well for us." I nod my agreement and set off the distress signal numerous times to get their attention so they come to find us. "Who does that go out to?"

"Stakar, Aleta, Yondu, Kraglin, Martinex, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Mainframe, Krugarr, Charlie-27, and Nebula." He nods and I keep setting off the distress signal.

"I believe that they have received it."

"Better safe than sorry." I set it off a few more times before putting it back in my boot and activate the blasters on the other one to meld the sole back together carefully while he watches me. "Now... We wait." I lean against the wall across from him and we stare at each other for a few moments.

"What should we do to pass the time?" He asks and I look around the room a bit as words spill from my mouth.

"We could have sex." He splutters and blushes brightly as he looks at me. The words dawn on me and my face flames as I quickly cover it with my hands. "Oh, Gods... That is... Sorry..." I stumble over my words and we sit in silence now, both of us embarrassed.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a loud ruckus outside of the room and it has been hours. We stand carefully and I motion for us to move toward the wall that's not in front of the door, which we both do quickly.

The door goes flying against the wall and Rocket pokes his head in with Groot. "I am Groot?"

"I have never been happier to see your ugly mugs," I smirk and go over with them. "We hitting this guy now?"

"Yeah. We're taking him for all he's worth but we've got to move fast or else the Nova Corps will catch us."

"We got Doc Strange?" He nods and I think quickly. "Have him open portals to the ship's storage area and we'll get our stuff that way before we go through ourselves."

"Krugarr's here too. We just have to give him some of the loot."

"Have him do the same, then. Let's move!" I clap my hands and they nod, running off to do that after Rocket tosses us our wrist coms. "Loki, with me!" He nods and follows me to steal shit, tossing the stuff through Doc Strange's portals.

I hear the signature Nova Corps ships and Krugarr lets me know that there's a portal open to my ship at the bottom of the stairs. "Let's go," I hiss and we move quickly but quietly through the house to find the portal.

"Freeze!" A Nova Corpsman yells and we stop, putting our hands up at the bottom of the stairs, inches away from the portal. "Turn around!" I shove Loki through the portal as I turn and they look terrified. "No... You're dead!"

"Not so much, pal. Say hi to the wife for me, yeah?" I flip him off as I give him a mock salute and fall back into the portal while he fires his blaster at me.

Charlie catches me and I smirk slightly. "Well hello there." He drops me and I scoff. "Rude." I stand and brush myself off. "Took you long enough to find us. Did you take the scenic route?" I smirk at Yondu and he rolls his eyes.

"Yer an idiot." 

"Maybe." I take the wig off and toss it on my desk in my Quarters, which is where we had landed. "Where's Loki?" He answers that by popping up behind me and handing me a glass of whiskey while the others get a glass of Rhone.

"I bid you good night, Captain." He bows slightly and leaves while Aleta shuts the door behind him before I can respond, too busy trying to come up with something to say.

"Damn. You've got it bad," Martinex says and I flip him off, going to get changed out of this dress. "You do, Rogue!" I ignore him and get changed quickly, thinking as I do.

_Maybe I do have it bad... But... Isn't that what makes it so good?_ I head downstairs after that thought and sit in my chair, disappointed that Loki wasn't in his usual spot for our discussions.

A knock comes and Stakar answers it, blocking the person from my view as they talk in hushed tones, not that I would hear anyway since I was too busy drinking my whiskey and ignoring Martinex's prying.

"Rogue, we have a guest." I glance over at him and nearly spit out my drink when Loki's standing calmly next to him.

"This is usually our time for our discussions over glasses of whiskey. Would you mind if I join you?"

"Uh... Yeah... I mean... Um... Just... Sit down."

"What about my drink?" He smirks slightly as he sits and I roll my eyes.

"Rocket, whiskey over two cubes of ice."

"How do you know what he drinks?"

"Because fuck you and get the damned drink, rat."

"Whatever you say, Captain," He scoffs with an eye roll and hands Loki his drink. "Your Godliness."

"Why do I allow you in my Quarters?"

"For the comedic relief and sarcastic remarks," Mantis says simply and I nod slightly in agreement.

"Yeah, OK. That's fair." Loki sips on his glass and I carefully look at him while I take a sip of my own.

"See something you like, kid?" Rocket smirks and I roll my eyes slightly.

"It might be that she wants to kiss the remnants of the chocolate sweet from Loki's lips," Mantis says and everyone looks at her. "He has some on his mouth." Loki wipes his mouth off with his thumb and I was still trying to wrap my mind around what Mantis just said while also thinking about doing it, taking a long sip from my glass.

"'Ere, girl. Lemme top ya off." I give Yondu my glass and he refills it, refilling Loki's too. "Enjoy," He smirks and we both take a sip.

"Gramps, you're being immensely suspicious." He just shrugs and pulls out his holopad. "I swear to all of the Gods, I'm going to blow that up one of these fucking days," I mutter under my breath as I take a sip and Loki watches me carefully enough that I don't notice, but the others do. Rocket kinda smirks and sips on his Rhone while the others do the same.

"Gods. Will you two just speak to each other about how you feel?" Senso rolls her eyes and I look at her.

"You mean like how you and Kraglin did before you got help with it?" She opens her mouth to respond before closing it, not having a good response, and I nod a bit. "That's what I thought."

"And I do not like the Captain, which I have said numerous times now," Loki says exasperatedly and I take a sip of my whiskey, keeping my reaction to that inside while my heart falls apart a little bit. "I do not like anyone the way that you all think I do."

"Well, Rogue has a crush on somebody. Who is it?" Martinex asks and they all look at me, making me pause in taking a drink as my mind races to come up with a believable lie. "We know it's someone from Terra, so that narrows it down a lot." Loki was watching me and I down the rest of my glass, setting it down as I lie through my teeth.

"Bucky."

"The guy with the metal arm?" Rocket coughs and I shrug, noticing Loki looked a little pissed at that as he finishes his drink. He stands and sets his glass on the counter before bowing slightly to us.

"I bid you all a good night." He leaves and Groot tilts his head slightly in confusion while everyone looks from the door to me.

"Really? You couldn't have come up with a better lie?" Lumes rolls her eyes and I stand, putting my glass on the counter too.

"Get out of my Quarters, I want to go to sleep. It's been a long solar cycle." They leave with no arguments and I check on Stark and Leta, gently pushing their hair out their face. "Sleep well, kiddos," I whisper and go to my bunk, collapsing into it to sleep, not even bothering to take my boots off as I drift off to sleep.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I jerk awake to someone pounding on the door and go over to answer it quickly, glaring at Morgan. "What? It is 0130, what could you possibly want?"

"There's a fight going on and no one's breaking it up because it's in the gym. But, it needs to be broken up." I rub my face and follow her to the gym, leaving my jacket in my Quarters and going in just a tank top and the pants.

"Break it up!" The crowd parts and I go through it, seeing Loki fighting Bucky and Steve. I go over and pull them off of each other, throwing Loki away from the other two. He tries to charge and I whistle sharply, my arrow dancing in front of his face. "I said break it up! What the Hell is this about?" No one says anything and I look around a bit. "Anyone who wasn't a part of this fight, get back to whatever you were doing! Now!" They all scurry to obey and the three in the fight stay, same with the Avengers. "Bucky, start talking."

"Steve and I were sparring and that fucking nutcase attacks me from behind!"

"It has been a long time coming," Loki snarls and I vaguely notice my family watching from the wall, Nebula next to them.

"Nebula, you witness the fight?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Did it go down that way?"

"Yes, it did, Captain." I rub my face and let out a very soft sigh.

"Loki, there is no attacking a fellow crewmate from behind on my fucking ship! Nebula, have Tex make sure those assholes aren't gonna die." I grab Loki by the jacket and drag him to the Brig, throwing him into a cell before I slam the door.

"You can't do this," He yells and I slam my hand against the door, making him jump.

"Last time I checked, I was the fucking Captain! Be happy I don't kick you off of it! Enjoy your night in the Brig! And, maybe, you'll get some more brain cells when I let you out for the first shift!" I storm off and shut the door to the brig while still inside it, deciding to sleep there instead of going back to my Quarters. I sit in a chair and lean my head against the wall, dozing.


	16. Chapter 16

I wake up at the sound of someone coming in and get up silently, lurking in the shadows. "Awe, did little Loki get thrown into the Brig?" A newer crew member taunts and makes sure the door was shut before picking the lock on the door to the cell Loki was in. "Guess we've got to show you how being a Ravager is." I hear fists connect and Loki grunts while I move silently. The crew member was beating Loki while a second one was holding him, looking uncomfortable in the situation, and I tap the crew member's shoulder. "Get lost! He's mine!"

I tap his shoulder again as I stand to my full height instead of slouching and he spins, swinging at me. I catch his fist easily and look down at him. "Uh, Captain... What... What are you doing here?" He asks nervously and I lean down to be eye level with him.

"The better question would be... What are you doing here? And why are you dragging people in on your schemes?"

"I, um... I didn't..."

"Oh, come on. You can come up with a better lie than that." He doesn't say anything and I raise an eyebrow. "I'm waiting." He still doesn't say anything and I stand straight again, sighing in disappointment. "What a shame..." I let go of his hand and punch him in the face hard enough to send him to the floor, the crew member that was holding Loki using this opportunity to run. "You looked like you had so much potential and you can't even come up with a good lie?" He tries to get up and I kick him in his stomach, knocking him down again. "Did I say you could get up?" No response so I nudge his head with my toe. "Well?"

"No, Captain," He wheezes and I spare a short glance at Loki to see him beaten fairly badly.

"Now, you're gonna get up and let Loki hit you back. If I have to hold you still, you ain't gonna like it. Clear?" He stands with a nod and I motion at him with my hand slightly. Loki punches him in the face a few times and I hold my hand up. "Good. Both of you, get out of here and get your sorry asses to work."

"Aye, Captain." They both go to work and I watch Loki leave a bit, still not sure how to bring up my feelings. Loki pauses at the door when I snap at him and he comes back over.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Um... We're gonna sell the stuff we got, distribute the units, and celebrate all by 1600... You, uh... We'll be on Contraxia to celebrate and I know a place that will give out private areas if someone wants it... Wanna, um... Wanna come with me?" I rub the back of my neck awkwardly and he looks at me in an assessing manner.

"It would be my pleasure, Captain."

"Nice. Um, I'll give you the information when we land there, then. And don't tell anyone." He nods and goes off when I wave my hand slightly to dismiss him. I smile a bit and line up a buyer for the remainder of the loot, thinking about who to bring with me to meet with the buyer as I walk out of the Brig.

"Captain," Thor greets as he waits for Gamora beneath a vent and I watch slightly, pushing him aside a bit to pull myself up to see how she was doing.

"How's it coming, kid?"

"It's almost done. I just have a few more to do." I help her pull the hose toward her as she moves back toward me and nod.

"Good. Once you get used to these types of jobs, they don't seem that difficult anymore and you can get them done faster." She nods her agreement and I drop onto the floor, dusting myself off slightly. "You done with that one?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome." I help her down and get some dust out of her hair, looking her over. "When you're done, you can use my shower in my Quarters to clean up. Alright?" She nods and I smile a bit, ruffling her hair gently. "And, if Indri isn't done with his job by the time you're out, you can help him out if you want. And make sure you eat."

"OK."

"OK." I brush my sleeves off again and look at Thor then at her. "Hurry up and finish them, then." They both nod and go to finish the vents while I go to check on Indri.

He wasn't even doing anything, kind of sleeping, and I go over to him, not bothering to be quiet. He jumps up and gets to work when he hears my boots while I look around, seeing about half of the hangar cleaned. "Indri. Cleaning the hangar doesn't entail sleeping."

"Sorry... I just... I wanted to get it done and didn't get a lot of sleep," He admits carefully and I go over to him, looking him over.

"Indri, you need to sleep, kid. How much of the hangar you got left?"

"Not a whole lot... 'Bout half of it..." I sigh and rub my head slightly.

"Alright, this is the only time I'm gonna allow this. Get on the Milano and rest for a bit until Gamora comes in and she's gonna help you finish up. OK?"

"OK, Captain. Thank you."

"Yeah. Go on." He goes to do that and I shake my head slightly, going to check on everything else.

"Kid, come on! You've got to have better taste than that!"

"They're cool!" I go over to the open door to Peter and Michelle's Quarters and see Tony looking at a set of Captain America pajamas while the other Avengers also watch in amusement.

"Wait, they made pajamas for the Avengers?" All of them look at me and they nod. "That's some bullshit."

"Do you want a set for each of us?" Tony teases and I roll my eyes.

"No. I outgrew my phase of thinking you guys were cool."

"What made that happen?"

"I got raised by Space Pirates."

"But we were the coolest thing you knew of on Terra, right?" Peter asks and I roll my eyes again.

"At ten years old, yes. Congratulations. Your current Captain was a fan of you guys. You guys gonna get to work or just stand around talking about pajamas?" They disperse to go to work and Rocket was standing by me, walking with me.

"You sure you don't want some pajamas from the Avengers, kid?" I ignore him and he chuckles. "I got my answer."

"Get to work, Rocket."

"Aye aye, Captain." He scurries off to get to work with the Engineering team and I roll my eyes slightly, hoping there won't be a fight between him and Tony today. I walk the ship as I think of who to come with me to sell the loot to the buyer and decide to just bring the Avengers, needing help carrying the loot.

"Avu," I call when I see her and she looks at me. "Set a course for Xandar."

"Aye, Captain." She does that and I see Gamora go into my Quarters before we're taking off of the planet we're currently on, cloaked to avoid being spotted by the Nova Corps.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We land planetside on Xandar in the docks and I walk to where the buyer is with the Avengers around me, each of us having a pouch of loot. Xandarians pause in walking and look at us, shocked. "I thought we were free of her?"

"I thought she was dead," Other hisses and I feel the Avengers' eyes on me while I walk through the streets, popping my knuckles slightly.

A big guy suddenly gets in our way and was slightly taller than me. "You."

"Me," I smirk and he swings at me, missing when I duck out of the way.

"You got my son killed! He was taking care of everyone else as the oldest and you got him killed!" He had a holographic picture of Horuz on his wrist com and I look at him calmly.

"It's been a lot of annual cycles since he died."

"He wouldn't have even died if you had left him here where he belonged!"

"You mean where you left him starving and freezing in the streets?" He swings at me and I catch his hand, pinning him to the ground with my boot between his shoulders and his wrist in my hands. The other parents of my first crew come over to look at me and I look at them as I let the guy go, backing up a couple of steps. "Don't act like you're all better than me. You all abandoned your children in the streets to starve or freeze to death! Or gave them such a terrible home life that their only option was to run to survive! So hate me all you want! It won't compare to how much I hate myself for them dying and being unable to save them or for taking so long to realize we were being set up by someone on my own damned crew! Enjoy your miserable fucking lives and leave me the fuck alone," I snarl and spin on my heel to continue to the buyer's shop.

The door was shut so I pound on it and the Avengers were right behind me. "We are not open!"

"Broker! Open up! Don't make me open it myself!"

"We are closed!"

"You've got three seconds before you'll need a new door! Three!" I take my blaster out and wait for a beat before charging it up. "Two!" I point it at the door and it opens, the blaster pointing at Broker. He pales more than he already is when he sees me and backs up a few steps. I go in and the others follow me. "Where are my damned units?"

"You... You're... I thought you were dead..."

"Well, I'm not! Now, where are my fucking units?" I bark and he jumps, going to his counter.

"The loot?" Peter starts to go over and I stop him with an arm across his chest, going over myself to lean forward on the counter. I make eye contact with Broker and he shakes in fear.

"You know that ain't how this works. I get the units then you get the loot. Let's see the units, Broker," I growl and he sets a large pouch on the counter, gulping a bit. "That's only half what we agreed."

"New policies, Captain. You do not get the total amount of units until I see the loot and determine if it is worth more or less than what we agreed on at first."

"That does seem fair," Peter says and I turn to glare at him, making him shut up as I turn the glare back to the Broker. He jumps back a bit and I slam my blade into his sleeve to pin him to the counter, eyes not leaving his face.

"Why do you have to make this difficult for yourself? All you have to do is give me my units that we agreed on because I've already confirmed that all of the loot I'm giving you is real."

"You have?"

"Of course I have. If it weren't, I wouldn't have even wasted my time stealing the shit. Now... Units?" He nods and I take my knife out of his sleeve so he can get me my units. He grabs another few pouches and distributes units into them so that they don't look suspicious, putting some on a few cards.

"Here you are, Captain." He hands me the units and I take them, pocketing the cards for now.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Broker. Got any more of those cute things?" I ask as I give him the pouches of loot and he looks at a few of the displays.

"I do. For Captain Udonta, I suppose?"

"How about you just get me the things and I'll pay for them, yeah?" He nods and gets some of them, putting them in small pouches. I pay him for them and he nods slightly.

"Thank you, Captain." I attach the pouches to my belt loops and toss the pouches to the Avengers as we head to the door.

"Hold onto the units cuz I'm probably gonna get arrested."

"Want us to hold onto the knick-knacks too?" Bucky asks and I debate about that for a moment before I hand them to Pepper and Peter.

"I trust you two more than the rest of these idiots. I'll be out in... An hour tops. Or I might be shipped to the Kyln Two."

"What happened to the first Kyln?"

"The Guardians of the Galaxy busted out of there and it got upgraded to be harder to bust out of." We walk outside of the shop and Nova Corpsmen were waiting, pointing their blaster at us.

"Rogue Udonta, you are hereby under arrest!"

"Oh, I am?" I put my hands in my pockets and the blasters charge up.

"Yes! Take your hands out of your pockets and put them where we can see them!" I pull my hands out and keep them in fists. "Drop whatever you are holding!"

"If you say so..." I forcefully drop the orbs in my pockets onto the ground and a cloud of smoke surrounds us.

"Damnit! Not again!"

"What now?" Peter hisses and I look at him like he's stupid.

"Now we run, dumbass!" He starts to take off and I grab his jacket, shoving him in a different direction. "This way! It'll lead us to Nova Prime's house," I say loud enough the Nova Corpsmen hear and I hear them take off in the opposite direction. I smirk slightly and lead the way through some alleys.

I skid to a stop as I turn a corner and Nova Corpsmen were pointing blasters at us. "How stupid do you think we are?"

"You want my honest opinion?" I take a step back and we're getting surrounded by Nova Corpsmen. "Oh, hey, buddy! So... How's the wife?" He comes over and punches me in the face before pressing the blaster under my chin.

"Rogue Udonta, you are hereby under arrest for the assault of a Nova Corps Officer and will be shipped to the Kyln Two immediately."

"What? No trial?" I smirk and he charges the blaster up.

"Kidnappers and killers don't get trials. I should kill you now and save time."

"Do it," I smirk and he looks at me. "Go ahead. Blast my head off. I'll just come back and then I'll come for you. And I'll make your life a living nightmare." He backs away and they all charge up their blasters while I was still smirking. "Oh, come on now!" I grab the barrel off the blaster and press it against my forehead. "Do it. Fire the damned blaster. Blow my fucking head off. Right between the eyes. Let's go. Do it!"

Someone else blasts me in the knee and I grunt, kind of crumpling until Tony catches me. I look at the Corpsman in front of me as I stand straight again and he was looking at me like I was crazy. "Little bitch. Now, this has been fun. But, we've gotta go." I whistle sharply and my arrow soars through the wrists of their hands that are holding their blasters. They all drop them with a shout of pain and I toss other orbs onto them, letting a finger hover over my wrist com for a moment. "On a scale of one to ten, tell me how much this hurts." I press the button and they all seize in pain as electric shocks go through their bodies, blue light emanating over the tops of them.

"So? How much did that hurt?" I ask as I stop and they don't respond so I do it again, not stopping until they're all unconscious. "Nice. Time to go." I lead the way past them and turn to see all of them carefully stepping over their bodies.

"Are you OK?" Peter asks in a worried tone and I glance at him.

"Purple."

"What?" 

"Exactly. Let's go." He looks more worried at that and I turn, leading the way back to the ship. "And I'm fine. I enjoy screwing with the Nova Corps, especially that one. Gods. It's so much fun. You learn to find new methods of entertainment. Though, it would sometimes end with me... Yeah... Was still worth it."

"That pause was enlightening," Bucky scoffs and I simply flip him off. "So... I'm guessing Yondu would tan your ass?" I don't respond other than a slight pause in my stride, which I quickly resume with a slight clear of my throat, and he chuckles. "Thought so."

"Shut up, Bucky. Gramps is old school and has been, and I quote, 'been whuppin' idiot kids fer years'. He is immensely frustrating. But, he's family and was one of the first adults to give a shit about me for seven years. So... I can tolerate him."

"That's sweet," Peter's smile is evident in his voice and I roll my eyes slightly, stopping suddenly. "Wh-" I cover his mouth and he looks offended but doesn't say anything since my finger was to my lips, back pressed against the wall slightly.

"We got intel that that bitch Udonta is here with her new pussy crew. We're gonna get her back for stealing our target from under our noses." The voice makes me lean my head back against the wall in frustration and the others look at me, confused.

"The fucking Destroyers. You've got to be shitting me."


	17. Chapter 17

"Who are the Destroyers?" Peter asks and I think of a way to explain it, letting out a short huff of breath.

"OK... Um... Y'know how the NYPD and FDNY have an entire feud going on?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"The Ravagers and Destroyers have something like that. They don't have a code and do whatever they want. So... Yeah."

"What target did you steal from under their noses?"

"I dunno. I did it a lot," I scoff and let out a slow breath, thinking. "OK... These guys let in Ravagers who got kicked out for breaking the Code or, in one person's case, for beating on me."

"How did that work?" Steve asks and I look around the corner carefully.

"His former Captain's one of my uncles." They make soft noises of understanding and I bring my head around quickly, having seen a familiar face. "Oh boy... Of course, they brought him... Why wouldn't they?" I take a deep breath and think quickly.

"Hey! I think I saw her Colors over here!"

"Fuck," I breathe and tap my hand against my leg quickly as I think. "OK... Um... Yeah... OK, so... These guys will not hesitate to kill all of you. So, once I step out of the alley, go down this way, turn right, go past four alleys, turn right again, and bolt for the ship. Oh, and guys?"

"Yeah?" Tony raises an eyebrow at me and I check my knee before I look at them.

"Move quickly. Go."

"Don't kill them or hurt them too badly, Rogue. Please," Peter begs and I nod a bit.

"You got it." I step out of the alley and the familiar face greets me. "Atar. Been a while." He grabs me by my jacket and throws me into the building Tony had been in front of. I grunt and crumble to the ground. "I see that you're still pissed that I turned down your proposal..." I start to stand, vaguely noticing the Avengers just now getting around the corner, and he grabs me by the throat, throwing me into the alley they turned right down. "Dude, you're screwing up all of these buildings." The other Destroyers were following us and Atar picks me up by the throat, throwing me down the alley again.

"You got married to a twig! When you could have had me!" He kicks me in the ribs and sends me flying down the alley the others had gone down. "We heard what you told them to do. They're gonna see you getting beaten to a pulp." He picks me up by the throat and throws me out of the alley, into the open street that the Avengers had just gotten through to get to the ship.

He comes over and kicks me in the ribs again, making me roll away slightly. I try to get up and he kicks me in the stomach, knocking me back to the ground. He slams the heel of his boot into my ribs and I barely keep from crying out in pain, only grunting. "Oh, come on! You know I like it when you make noise when I spar with you! I still can't believe you told everyone that I beat on you when you'd come into my Quarters! You came in willingly! Anything that happened, you agreed to it!" He was slamming his heel into my ribs with each sentence he said and only stops when I was struggling for air.

"Ugh. You're just as pathetic as I remember you being." He turns his back on me and I stand with difficulty, grunting and gasping in pain.

"I'm the pathetic one? You're the one that had to force me to do anything with you in your Quarters. You're the one that had to beat on me because you were a shitty Ravager. You're the one that found where you belong with a bunch of no-good assholes! You're a pathetic sack of shit and I'll see you in Hell!" He had turned to me when I started talking and I blast him in the knee, vaguely noticing the Avengers and kids watching me as I go over to him.

"You're lucky I made a promise to not kill you." I spit on him and leave, limping slightly from the blaster shot to my knee. I board my ship and close it up before going over to Controls, hiding my pain to not worry the kids.

"Are you OK?" Gamora asks and I nod, sitting in my chair. Leta runs over and climbs into my lap, hugging me tightly. I hug her back and control my reaction to the tight hug on my sore, and probably broken, ribs.

"I'm fine. You guys finished with the hangar?"

"Yes, Captain."

"And your studies?" I look at all of the kids and they shake their heads.

"No. You took the people we study with, with you to sell the loot," Petey explains and I wave my hand slightly in a 'fair point' motion.

"OK. Well, they're here now. Get to studying. Go."

"Why do we need to learn this stuff?"

"Because I said you do. Now go." They go off to study and I hold Leta, rubbing her back gently as I set a course for Contraxia. Leta coos at me and I smile, petting her hair gently. "How are you, sweet girl?" I ask softly and she giggles, smiling brightly at me. They all look so much like Jay when they smile like that and it hurts my heart every time, but I just smile back.

_I'm never going to do anything that will make any of you not smile like that anymore. Because when that happens, it takes so long to get it back and so much effort. I'll keep all of you safe and loved. I'd die before I let you get hurt because I love you. Even if I don't say it, I love you._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We land on Contraxia and the crew had been given their units for partaking in the job, the kids too cuz they helped. I think a bit and look at Tony and Pepper, who had Morgan with them, as we disembark the ship. "Hey, could you two make sure the kids don't get kidnapped? There's a bar, restaurant, and arcade over there. The kids will be immersed in that and you guys can have like a date night sort of deal."

"We were gonna give Morgan to Drax and Rocket for the night so we could have a date night. Can't they watch the kids too?"

"Fair point. Rocket!" I yell and he turns from where he, Drax, Groot, and Mantis were heading to the arcade bar.

"What?"

"You get the other kids tonight!"

"OK! I like those kids!" Petey and Gamora lead the kids over and I smile a tiny bit.

"Make sure they don't get kidnapped! And stay by Rocket, you guys!"

"Obviously!"

"Fuck you, Rat!"

"Back atcha, kid!"

"That's Captain to you, asshat!"

"Fine! Back atcha, Captain!"

"That's more like it!" The two of them were watching in amusement and I shrug one shoulder. "Um, if you want, I can take you to a bar that gives you private areas?"

"Sounds great." I lead the way to the bar and Tony pays for their area.

Once they're gone, I pay for my own area on the other side of the bar and go to it, giving Loki the information over a message. I had brought some Rhone and whiskey over and set them on the table with glasses, chewing my lip slightly. I take a deep breath and sit down in the seat facing the door, waiting for Loki.

He comes in and smiles at me as he shuts the door behind him. "Captain."

"Loki." He sits down across from me in the booth and picks up the menu.

"What do you suggest to eat here? Also, I can not read this menu." I move around the booth to sit next to him and point to something.

"That's kind of like a steak, but juicier and it bleeds purple. It comes with the equivalent of potatoes and I recommend that because it is so good."

"How much is it?" He asks as he looks at me and I turn my head to look at him.

"No worries. My treat." I smile at him and he smiles back.

"If you say so, Captain," He says in a sultry voice and I blush a bit, clearing my throat as I look at the menu again.

"Um... This is a dessert... It's like angel's food cake and devil's food cake had a baby..."

"It sounds delectable. Much how you look right now." I blush more and chuckle nervously as I go back to the other side of the booth. "So... Captain?" I look at him and he was smiling mischievously at me. "What is this supposed to be?"

"A date," I say quickly and honestly and he looks taken aback while I blush more. "Sorry if it isn't coming off like that... This is technically my first real date... So, I'm kinda... Nervous...?" I try and don't look at him, choosing to instead look into my drink.

"No need to apologize, my dear Captain. This is... My first real date, as well... I am just as nervous..."

"You do realize that I was lying when I said I had a crush on Bucky, right?" He looks at me in shock and I roll my eyes slightly. "Everyone made it seem like it was obvious... I, um... I like you, Loki..."

"And I like you, Captain." I look at him in shock and he smiles slightly. "I lied as well... I do like you. Very much so." I smile a bit and he smiles back.

"Well, um... Would you like to start dating, then?" He nods after a moment and I smile. "I think that's how it works... Oh well. We got the same results as any other people would when they start dating." He chuckles and leans forward slightly.

"Would you mind if I kissed you, Captain?"

"Not at all..." He leans over the table and captures my lips with his, kissing me gently, yet fiercely. I kiss him back and can feel the tension melt off of me before he pulls away.

"That was enjoyable." He smiles and I nod my agreement. "Captain, I feel I should mention... If we ever go into your Quarters together... I do not submit, I dominate," He says in a slight growl and I shiver slightly, clearing my throat a bit.

"Got it. But, outside of there, you'd have to listen to me. Or would that bruise your dominant side too badly?" I smirk and he growls softly, catching my chin in a light hold. My breath hitches in my throat and we make eye contact before a smirk slowly spreads across his face.

"Good girl," He murmurs and my body relaxes at that while I purr softly, making him smile. "You will be my Queen, mine and only mine, sitting beside me on a thrown with your crown." I nod with my eyes closed and he strokes my cheek gently while I lean into his touch. He pulls away and I open my eyes, looking at him. "We need to talk about how this will work."

"Right... Um... Well, it'll need to be a secret for now... Until we can tell my family... And, maybe, the other Avengers..."

"You believe me to be part of the Avengers?" He asks in shock and I nod.

"Yeah. You turned a new leaf and became better, in the eyes of the public on Terra. That makes you an Avenger in my book."

"And when we decide to tell them? What about the rest of the crew?"

"You'll need to gain their respect. So, fight back and stick up for yourself. I can help you out if you want. During our whiskey talks." He nods and I smile a bit. "And, um... If we have... Whatever we had earlier, no one can know."

"Of course, my dear Captain. Perhaps we should talk about my rules and expectations for you?" I quirk an eyebrow at that and he smiles, pulling out a holopad. "I have a list made up. I made it the first time I saw you." He hands it to me and I look through it.

_'Respect me when we are in private. Do your best to respect me in front of others. I am the only way you will get pleasure unless given verbal and written permission. I am allowed to punish you when you have broken a rule how I see fit, keeping in mind your history and trauma. Do not hide from me. Do not run from me. Do not lie to me. Do not lie about your health. Be as careful as possible. Respond verbally when we are in private. Do not do reckless things such as dare a Nova Corpsman to blow your head off with his blaster. More rules will be added as I see fit.'_

"Well... The last one was specific..." I chuckle and look up to see Loki kind of glaring at me. "I knew that he wasn't going to do it."

"I believe there is also a rule on there about lying."

"OK, I didn't know that he wasn't going to. But, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to." He takes the holopad and adds a rule.

"Do not rely on partial knowledge or being 'pretty sure' when doing something," He says as he types it in and I roll my eyes slightly. "No eye-rolling when we are in private. Careful with the attitude when we are in private." He looks at me and I was sipping on my drink slowly. "No being rude to me while around others and not expecting any consequences." I open my mouth to argue that I wouldn't do that before closing it again and he nods slightly. "Do you agree to the rules, my dear Captain?" I nod and he quirks an eyebrow at me, repeating himself.

"Oh. Um, yeah." He smiles and I smile back a bit, sipping my drink. I get a transmission from Rocket and look at it, slightly annoyed.

"It is probably important. Please, answer." I do as I put an earpiece in my ear.

"What, Rocket?"

_"Um, we got a problem."_

"What is it?"

_"Indri's missing and we can't find him."_

"What?" I growl and clench my hand around my glass, cracking it slightly.

_"We can't find Indri,"_ He repeats. I growl wordlessly for a short moment and set my glass down, standing up. 

"I'll be there in a minute." I end the transmission as I put my earpiece back and look at Loki. "Sorry to cut this short before we can even eat. But, they can't find Indri."

"I am sure they will. Please, sit back down."

"I can't. I promised that I'd keep him safe. I need to keep that promise, Loki." He looks at me and nods.

"I will help."

"OK. Um, Tony and Pepper are here on the other side of the bar so, be careful following me." He nods and I leave before he follows a few minutes later. I walk briskly outside and freeze for a moment before continuing to walk. "Indri! Get away from him! Now!"

Indri spins to look at me and Atar grabs him by his jacket, leveling a blaster against his head. "Hey again, Rogue! This runt belong to you?" Atar smirks and charges his blaster up when I get closer. "If you don't want him hurt, you better stop right there," He growls and I stop, looking at Indri. He was terrified and looks at me.

"Atar, let him go," I growl and vaguely notice the rest of my crew and my kids come out. "Now."

"No. Not until you understand the embarrassment that I felt when you turned me down. No one turns me down! Especially not some Terran bitch," He barks and shoves the blaster against Indri's head, making him tense. "If you want me to let him go, then get rid of your weapons. All of them." I hesitate for a moment before taking my blaster holster off and toss it to Rocket. "Knives too." I take off my thigh knife holster and toss it to Rocket, with my katana too. "And the one between your shoulders, Rogue." I grit my teeth but take out my other knife and toss it at Drax's feet.

"Happy?"

"Pull your duster away from your body." I pull my jacket(duster) away from my body and show him that my hips were bare of weapons. "Good."

"I did what you wanted. Let him go. This is between you and me, Atar."

"If you want me to let him go, get on your knees and beg."

"No," Indri yells and Atar yanks his head back by his hair.

"Shut up, Runt!"

"Ouch! Stop it! You're hurting me," He was starting to cry and Atar presses the blaster to his temple, looking at me as he lets go of his hair.

"You've got three seconds, Rogue. Or I'll blast his head off. One." I look at Indri and he was looking at me with wide, teary eyes, terrified. "Two!"

"Fine!" I drop to my knees and look at Indri. "You're gonna be fine, Indri. OK?" He nods a little bit and sniffles a little bit. I grit my teeth for a moment at how scared he is and look at Atar.

"Atar, come on, man... He has nothing to do with this... Let him go..." I had my hands near my hips and Indri was watching me. "He's my kid brother, Atar... He's all I've got left of my Dad..."

"That's nice," He scoffs and presses the blaster into his temple more. I flick my eyes to Indri and he was shaking slightly.

"Atar! Come on, man... He's just a kid..."

"I don't care. Say goodbye."

"Atar, please... Don't hurt my family..." Indri drops and I pull a blaster from behind my back, blasting Atar in the shoulder. I stand and go over to Indri. He scrambles up and over to me. I push him behind me and level my blaster on Atar, who was writhing in pain on the ground. He grabs his blaster and points it at someone behind me. I blast his head off and his blaster falls to the ground.

Indri was hugging me from behind and I carefully pull his arms from around me, checking him over quickly. "You OK? You hurt anywhere?" 

"I'm OK..."

"Good... Good..." I grab him by his shoulders and look at him. "What the Hell, kid? What happened?"

"He... He said that he was gonna bring me to you," He says nervously and I close my eyes to keep from killing him as I let him go, blue streaking across my implant. "Are... Are you mad?"

"Am I mad? We've gone way past mad, kid," I bellow and he flinches, taking a small step back. "I told you to stay with Rocket! If I wanted you brought to me, I'd have someone on the crew get you! Or I'd come to get you my fucking self! I tell you this shit for a reason! Not for you to ignore me and nearly get killed!"

"Kid, calm down," Rocket says carefully and I spin on him, making him shrink back before I turn back to Indri. He looks terrified and I clench my jaw tightly, taking a deep breath.

"Indri, I told you to stay with Rocket because I know that there are people that want to get back at me and the other Ravagers for stupid shit. I can't always watch your back. I need some help, kid."

"How do I help?"

"By using what's in here," I pat his head and he looks at me. "And trusting your gut if you think something ain't right. Come on, I need to talk to the rest of the kids too."

"OK..." He follows me over to the other kids and they all look at me.

"You guys haven't been working on your physical training, have you?" They don't respond and I nod slightly, taking their silence as an answer. "You need to keep up on it. Bucky, Steve," They look at me and I motion at the kids. "Help them out with the physical stuff."

"Alright." They nod and I rub my temples slightly.

"And Indri is to practice getting out of holds and disarming techniques for longer than the others."

"What? That isn't fair!" I glare at Indri and he shuts up, not happy about it.

"It's plenty fair. Because you didn't listen, you got grabbed and had a blaster to your head, which is why you're working on them longer. Got it?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Good. Go back to what you were doing. And you guys stay by Rocket or else," I growl and the kids nod their understanding, running back toward the arcade bar with the remaining Guardians while I attach my weapons back where they go easily as I walk back to the bar.


End file.
